


My little Angel

by thefallendevil



Series: My little.... [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV), wayhaught - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:07:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 29,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22483864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefallendevil/pseuds/thefallendevil
Summary: Nicole is a Divorced Mother of Two and goes to pick up her daughter from Daycare. Wynonna is on a case out of town so Her Daughter, Alice is Staying with Waverly for the time being. This is the first time she has to pick her up from the Daycare. While she is there, she bumps into Nicole. Nicole is the sheriff of the town and Waverly works at the local bar at as a waitress. Neither of them have ever crossed paths before. Nicole has only ever met Wynonna as she works from the police station. She has no idea that Waverly is her little sister. The pair hit it off and become fast friends, Waverly becoming like a guardian Angel in Nicole's life. But like any good pair, the two go through a rough patch.
Relationships: Nicole Haught & Alice Michelle, Nicole Haught & Original Character(s), Nicole Haught/Shae Pressman, Waverly Earp & Gus McCready, Waverly Earp & Original Character(s), Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp & Alice Michelle, Xavier Dolls & Alice Michelle, Xavier Dolls/Wynonna Earp
Series: My little.... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617697
Comments: 25
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

"Waves!..... Waverly!" Wynonna yelled as she walked through the house looking for her bags.  
"What's with all the yelling?" Waverly said, walking into the living room, drying her hair with a towel.  
"Have you seen my bags?"  
"Dolls took them to the car already. Wynonna, I know you. I know that you know that Dolls took them already. I also know how nervous you are to leave Alice."

"It's Just, this is the first time I'm leaving her alone."  
"I know. But you know she is in good hands. And it's not like she is being left with a Stranger."  
"I Know.. But...."  
"Wynonna. Do you trust me?" Waverly said, dropping the towel on the bannister and holding onto Wynonna's arms.

"Just..."  
"Wynonna... Do You trust me?" She asked again.  
"Yes. I trust you with my life." Wynonna sighed.  
"Good. Alice will be fine. Okay? I am going to drop her off at Daycare, then I'm going to go to work. "  
"Do you know what Time to pick her up?"  
"Yes. I will pick her up at half four. I will tell Shorty that I need to finish work early until you come back to town."  
"What about if I don't come back?"  
"Now you are just worrying. You are going to be fine. We will be fine. Now get your ass out the house, Doc wants to say goodbye."   
"Okay, let me just say bye to my baby." Waverly nodded and went to get Alice from her room. She came back downstairs with a very sleepy Alice in her arms. But as soon as she saw Wynonna, she perked up.  
"Mama!" Waverly put Alice down and she ran into a crouching Wynonna's arms. Wynonna wrapped her arms around the small girl and squeezed tight.  
"Mama. Can't breathe" Wynonna let go and checked the girl over quickly.

"Sorry Princess. I'm just so happy to see you before I go." Wynonna sniffled slightly. Alice wiped her mama's tears away. Wynonna chuckled softly.  
"Such a good girl."  
"Why are you sad, Mama?"  
"I'm just gonna miss you so much baby."  
"I'll miss you too Mama." The toddler flung her arms around the older woman again. Then let go quickly.  
"You be a good girl for Aunty Waverly Okay?" The girl nodded once, Sharply.  
"I will." Wynonna gave Alice A kiss on the head. She walked to Waverly, who had tears rolling down her cheeks.  
"You better come home safe." She said as she hugged her older sister tightly.  
"I will. I promise Baby girl."  
"Good, I can't lose another sister."  
"You will never lose me" Wynonna said as she wiped away a stray tear on Waverly's cheek with one hand and place the other hand behind her head and gave Waverly a quick kiss on the forehead. Then a car horn was heard.   
"That's your cue to leave" Wynonna picked up her bag and walked to the door. She opened it and turned back to the two ladies stood by the stairs.  
"Be good, girls." She left and the two girls went to the door to wave her off. When the car drove away, Alice ran inside and Waverly shut the door. Waverly checked the time and turned to Alice who was sat on the sofa.

"Come on Munchkin, get dressed so I can take you to Daycare." Alice grumbled by got up and walked in front of Waverly. When they got to the top of the Stairs. She crouched to Alice's Eye level.   
"Hey. Let's make this a bit more fun. We'll start with twenty toys. The faster you get dressed, the more toys you get added on. You ready?" The small girl nodded.   
"Go!" The girl ran to her room and started to put on the clothes that were set out for her. She came out after five minutes with all her clothes on and teeth and hair brushed. Waverly was stood at the bottom of the stairs with Alice's shoes in her hand.   
"Wow. Very well done. Let's see. How about we make it, two toys for every minute?"  
"Yeah!"  
"So by my calculations, That means you get Thirty new toys!"  
"Yay!" Alice jumped around and danced. Waverly Chuckled and sat the girl dow to get her shoes on. Alice stood up and put her coat on. Waverly did the same.  
"Come on Squirt, let's get you to daycare." Waverly Picked Alice up and carried her out the car.


	2. Chapter 2

Waverly  
"OK, Angel. We are here." I pulled up in front of the daycare and put the car in park. I jumped out of the car and ran round to the back and unbuckled Alice. I got her out of the car. We walked into the building, she showed me her cubbyhole for her coat and then handed me her coat and ran off to her friend. I put her coat away into the place she just showed me, then I spoke to the woman that ran it.   
"Excuse me"  
"Yes?"   
"I'm Waverly Earp. I just wanted to tell you that my sister, Wynonna has gone away on business so I will be picking Alice up for the foreseeable future. Just wanted you to know in case you need to make a note of anything,"  
"Thank you Miss Earp, I will be sure to add you to the list of approved guardians."  
"Thank you, Have a good day."  
"You too." I walked out of the daycare centre and got back in my car and headed to work. I parked in my usual spot and snuck in, hoping Gus or Shorty wouldn't notice I was a little late. But they did.  
"You're late Waverly." Shorty said from behind the bar.  
"I know. I'm sorry. Wynonna left today on that business trip so I have to look after Alice and had to drop her at Daycare. Speaking of which, I'm gonna have to finish early for a while, so I can pick her up."  
"Can't Doc do it?"  
"Nope. He's gone somewhere" I said, Waving my hands carelessly. I got behind the bar and started cleaning glasses for when we open in about thirty minutes.  
"Well, you will have to make it up."  
"I will, I promise."  
"Okay then. I'm gonna go get some more stuff. Stay here." he dropped his rag on the counter and left. I cleaned the nozzle of the beer tap and it started spraying.   
"Oh god! Crap!" I quickly turned it off. I keep telling him to fix that.  
"I didn't know Shorty's had a wet T-shirt contest." Oh no. Oh no no no. Not now. I looked up at the voice and it was a woman. A beautiful woman. Wow. This just gets better and better. She came towards me.   
"I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Nicole. Nicole Haught." She stuck her hand out. I dried my hand and shook it.   
"I'm...."  
"Waverly Earp. You are quite a popular girl around here."  
"Ah, Well You know.... You just smile and wave." I felt my shirt starting the stick to me, I have to get this off.  
"Erm... Do you mind just...." I put my hands over my eyes to ask her to not look for a second.   
"Oh yeah, of course." She chuckled. I turned around and started to take my shirt off. But it got stuck on my hair. Just great.   
"Erm... Officer. I'm... I'm Stuck." She comes round and helps me.  
"I got you. There." She puts my shirt on the counter and looks at me as I sort my hair.  
"Good job you're not a guy right. Otherwise this would be really, Really... Awkward." Then she got a call on her radio.  
"I better go. But I'll see you around." She put her card down and put her hat on. She smiled as she left. I picked up the card.  
"Nicole Haught. Of course." I looked at where she was stood a second ago then jumped at the sudden sound of Shorty's voice.  
"What Happened?"  
"The Tap happened. I told you to fix it."  
"I keep meaning to but I forget."  
"Well, stop forgetting. I just embarrassed myself in front of Officer Haught."  
"Oh you mean Sheriff Haught?"  
"Oh she's the Sheriff? That's just great!" I threw my hands up in frustration.  
"Just go upstairs and get a clean shirt, then get to work." I went up to my closet and got a clean shirt. The rest of the shift went without a Hitch. The customers were hitting on me. Champ was harassing me for a date. The usual stuff. I completely lost track of time when Gus came up to me and told me it was four.  
"Oh Shit! I have to pick Alice up! Thanks Gus!" I threw my apron and towel down. I picked up my coat and bag and ran out to my car. I got to the daycare in record time and jumped out of my car. I took out my phone, but I ran into someone when I wasn't looking.  
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I bent down to pick up the paper.   
"Don't worry about it, Waverly." I recognized the voice and when I stood up, I was face to face with Nicole. Great.  
"Nicole." I handed the folders back to her.  
"Thanks. What are you doing here?"  
"I'm picking my niece up. My sister has gone away on a ca...Business trip. What are you doing here?"  
"I'm picking my daughter up. And your sister is Wynonna?"  
"Yes. She asked me to look after Alice while she's gone."  
"Hmm. Well, I'd told you I'd see you around." Nicole Chuckled.  
"Yes. Yes you did. Sorry, I've gotta go get Alice."  
"Oh yeah, me too." I gave her a funny look.  
"You..."  
"Oh! No! Not Alice. I meant my daughter. I have to get my daughter. I didn't mean..." I just laughed.  
"I know. I was messing. Come on." We walked inside and surprisingly, we went to the same room. I picked up Alice and Nicole picked up her daughter.  
"Hi, sweetie."  
"This is Emily. Emily, this is Waverly." The little girl waved. We said our goodbyes and me and Alice went home.


	3. Chapter 3

"Aunt Waverly?" Alice asked from the sofa as I made us both dinner for the night.  
"What's wrong, Al?" I asked back from the kitchen. There was no answer but then I heard patters of little feet and scraping of a chair.   
"Who was that lady before?"  
"That was your momma's friend, Nicole. She's the sheriff." I looked over at her and her little eyebrows were furrowed in confusion before she asked;  
"What's a sheriff?" I walked over to the table and leant over to her.  
"A sheriff is in charge of keeping everyone safe. But not little Girls called Alice. Cause that's my job." I bopped her nose and walked back over to the stove. Alice hugged my legs.  
"You promise?"  
"Yeah I promise. It's also your Mama's and Papa's jobs to keep you safe." I bent over and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.  
"Thank you."  
"You don't need to thank me. I love you. Now go sit your cute butt down, Dinner's ready soon." She sat back down. I put all the food on the plates and sat down next to Alice. She quickly ate all the food.  
"Hungry?" I giggled. She nodded.  
"Yeah. I was." She said very seriously. I looked at her plate and made it a game. I looked under the table and up her sleeves.  
"Hmm. OK, well because you've eaten all your dinner, you can go watch cartoons till bed time. And maybe you'll some dessert." I smiled at her and she jumped off the chair and ran into the other room. I cleared the plates away and stood, leant against the kitchen door, smiling at how happy Alice was. I put my hand in my pocket and felt something. I took it out and smiled. It was Nicole's card. I felt something scratched into the back of it. I turned it over and it had writing on it.   
(517)984-7154 - My personal number. Text me sometime x - Nicole.  
I smiled at the message. I looked at it again before deciding to pull out my phone. I saved her number in my phone as My Little Stalker :) :D. Just cause it's funny how she was everywhere I went today. I lay on the couch while Alice had moved to the chair.  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Hey, Nicole. It's Waverly. I found your little message on the back of your card. Thought I'd drop you a text. x  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Hey Waverly! I'm glad you found it! I was just gonna ask for your number outright, but I thought I'd be a bit more subtle. Anyway, what you up to? x  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Not much, me and Alice have just finished dinner and now she is watching TV. What about you? What are you up to? x  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Same here. Except, I'm just about to run Emily a Bath. x  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Oh right. I can text you later if you want me too. If you wanna do that in peace? x  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
No, it's OK. You don't have to do that. I like talking to you. x  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Well, I like talking to you too. Although, Just dont make me drop anything this time :D x  
I sent that and then fell asleep. I must've been asleep for a while cause I woke up by Alice shaking me. I opened my eyes slowly and stretched out.  
"What time is it?"   
"Nearly nine." I sat up and rubbed my eyes with a sigh.  
"Okay. Let's get you off to bed, shall we?" I asked looking at Alice, who rubbed her eyes sleepily. I picked her up and took her to bed. She fell asleep on my shoulder, so I woke her up and got her into her pyjamas and tucked into bed.   
"Goodnight Princess" I said, quietly, knowing she had already fallen asleep again. Then I remembered about Nicole, she must be worried sick or pissed off. I ran downstairs and checked my phone. There was two messages.  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
No promises Waves. I like making you drop things :D x  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
I'm gonna guess you've fallen asleep haha, childcare is hard work. I'll speak to you in the morning x  
I texted her.  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Hey Nicole, I'm so sorry I fell asleep on you. You're right. Childcare is hard work hahaha. You've probably fallen asleep as well now. I'll come by the station with a coffee for you, OK? Sleep well x  
I walked upstairs and got ready for bed. I quickly clambered under the warm covers and fell asleep with a smile on my face, thinking about Nicole.


	4. Chapter 4

'Waverly! No!' Wynonna Screamed as A couple of guys tried to get me. Wynonna grabbed daddy's gun and aimed at the men. I closed my eyes and heard a loud bang. I opened them and saw Wynonna was in shock.  
'Daddy!' She cried. The men let me go and ran away. I ran behind Wynonna and hugged her. She had just shot Daddy. The men took Willa and there was nothing either of us could do. Wynonna sunk to the floor. She held me and we cried together. I cried and cried. Wynonna saved me but she killed Daddy. I stood up and walked over to Daddy. I saw where the bullet went into his head. There was blood everywhere. The walls were painted red.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
I woke up in a cold sweat. I sighed heavily. It's just a dream. I checked the time. 5:30am. I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. Walking to the window, I reached over for the curtains and pulled them open, it was still dark out. There was a green flash covering the room, I flopped on the bed and grabbed my phone. I smiled when I saw who the message was from.  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
That sounds amazing Waves :) Can you bring me a Cappuccino, please x  
To: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Of course I can, Nicole :) I'll be round after I drop off Alice x  
From: My Little Stalker :) :D  
Take your time, babe. I'll see you in a bit x  
I held my phone to my chest. She called me babe. I don't know why she's having this effect on me. We met Yesterday. I smiled and went to make breakfast. By the time breakfast was ready, It was time for Alice to get up. I turned and she was already sat the table digging in to the pancakes I had lay out. I chuckled.  
"Morning Monkey" I said as I sat down and grabbed a few of my own pancakes. We ate in silence and then we went to get ready.  
"Why are you so happy today?" Alice asked as I was putting her shoes on.  
"Can't I be happy to finally spend some time with my niece?"  
"But you always spend time with me?" She is really smart for a three year old.  
"I know but..."  
"So why are you uber happy?"  
"Just because I'm seeing a friend today. That's all."  
"They must be special to make you so happy"  
"Yeah. They are special. Is that OK? That they make me really happy?" She pretended to think about it for a second.  
"Yup! If you are happy, then so am I." We smiled at each other. We went to the car and drove to the daycare.  
When we got there, I gave Alice a piggyback to her teacher. She got off and ran to her friends. I saw Nicole's daughter sat alone. I went over to Alice.  
"Hey, Remember the little girl with Nicole last night?"  
"Yeah?"  
"She's sat all alone. Why don't you invite her to come play with you?"  
"Okay!" She skipped over and the two smiled. They held hands as they came back over. I left after that. When I got back to the car, I checked my phone for any messages. I got one from Wynonna.  
From:TheBestBigSisterEver  
Hey, Baby Girl. How is everything going?  
To:TheBestBigSisterEver  
It's going well. Everything's ran smoothly. And I finally met Nicole.  
From:TheBestBigSisterEver  
Oh really? Tell me all in a bit, I gotta go. I love you x  
To:TheBestBigSisterEver  
Love you too. Stay safe.  
I didn't really have anything to do today, so I took my time. Parking up at work, I quickly jumped out of the car and went in. No-one was there but the doors were open. That's weird, I shook off the weird feeling though and chalked it up to it being really cold in here. I just out on my shirt that was tied around my waist and bent down to grab two takeaway coffee cups and started making the Cappuccino for Nicole and a Flat White for me. When they were done and in the cups, I grabbed two lids and walked over to the station. Luckily for me, Nicole was sat at the front desk, but she was asleep. I smiled softly and walked over to her.  
"Rough night?" She jerked awake.  
"Oh Jeez! Waves. Sorry, yeah it was a long night."  
"What happened?" I asked as I placed the coffee down in front of her. She gave me a smile of appreciation and took a sip. She threw her head back and groaned in pleasure as she swallowed the freshly made coffee.  
"Emily didn't want to go to sleep so I had to stay up until she was tired. I was in such a rush this morning to get Em to daycare and get these cases sorted, I haven't even had a chance to get used to the day yet. And by the way, this is so good!" I laughed.  
"Thanks, and do you want me to anything to help?"  
"Oh no, I couldn't put you out or stop you from doing anything. I'll be fine as the day goes on."  
"Honestly, it's no trouble Nicole. I have nothing to do today and it's an apology for falling asleep on you last night. Please. It'll give you a bit of time to get settled."  
"Thank you so much, This means a lot. I do have a small favour to ask. Do you mind doing it for me?"  
"Course I don't. What's up?"  
"Could you maybe pick Emily up when you come to get Alice? I have to go down to Monmouth to help on a case and I won't be back till late. I've told her teacher that I won't be picking her up and that I'll ask one of the other guardians to do it."  
"Of course I will."  
"You are a lifesaver. Thank you."Nicole put her hand on mine. I nodded slightly and bid her goodbye. When I left, I told her to just text me if she needed anything . 

So after saving Nicole's life with my favour and a cup of coffee, I went home and cleaned a bit. When I finally sat down and turned the TV on, there was a live news story.  
"We come to you now with breaking news. There has been a violent attack on a group of FBI agents and Police officers In the town of Monmouth. So far we have news of three injured and five killed. We will keep you updated as we get more information. Monmouth? Isn't that where Wynonna and Nicole.... Oh no. I grab my phone and call Wynonna. No answer. I also call Nicole. No answer again. Shit. Shit. Shit!


	5. Chapter 5

NEXT DAY

I ran downstairs and turned on the TV and saw the new anchors were updating everyone about Yesterday's accident.  
"More update on Yesterday's breaking news story. The injured Agents and Officer's toll has now risen to ten. Three of the ten Agents will be transferred to Purgatory general Infirmary, per their request. We are allowed to release their names to the general public. The three Agents are Deputy Marshall Xavier Dolls, Special Agent Wynonna Earp and Sheriff Nicole Haught. There..." I turned the TV off and threw the remote against the wall. I sighed Heavily and felt a tear roll down my face. I stand up and go upstairs, I go into Alice's room where both girls are sleeping and I wake them up.  
"Girls...."  
"Aunt Waverly..?"  
"You two aren't going to Daycare Today. You're gonna stay here and Grandma Gus is gonna look after you. OK?" They nod sleepily.  
"Hmm" I stroked Alice and Emily's hair.  
"Good, now go back to sleep." They instantly fell asleep. I walked out and closed the door. I called Gus straight away.  
'Hello'  
"Hey Gus"  
'Waverly, What's wrong hun?'  
"I need you to come to the Homestead and look after Alice and Nicole's daughter Emily. I need to go to the hospital."  
'What's Happened? Are you OK?'  
"I'm fine. It's Wynonna and Nicole. They were injured in an attack while they were working. I need to go see them"  
'Oh my god! Of course, I'll be there in ten minutes'  
"Thank you so much. They'll still be asleep when you get here. Please don't tell them about this, I don't want to scare them"  
'I promise. See you soon'   
I hung up the phone and finished getting ready. When I was ready, Gus was knocking at the door. I let her in and as soon as she was in, I gave her the biggest hug ever.  
"Thank you so much for this."  
"Of course. Anything for you. I hope they're OK"  
"Me too. OK, I gotta go. I'll call with updates" I hugged her again and got into the car and drove to the hospital. When I got there, I ran straight to the front desk.  
"How Can I help?"  
"The three Officers that were injured yesterday. Do you know what room they're in?"  
"How do you know the Officers?"  
"Wynonna is my sister, Doll's is my Brother-in-Law and The Sheriff is a friend."  
"I'm so sorry. All three Officers have been moved upstairs and are in rooms 213 and 214. The Deputy Marshall and Special Agent Earp are in the same room."  
"Thank you, so much." I said and ran to the elevator. This elevator seemed to move so slowly to just go up one floor. After what seemed like forever, it reached the floor and as soon as the door opened, I raced out to the rooms. I reached room 213 first and saw Wynonna lying on the bed. She was awake but Doll's wasn't. I went in and Wynonna perked up a bit when she saw me. I hit her on the arm, with tears rolling down my face.  
"Ow! Baby girl! What the hell was that for?!"  
"You promised you would stay safe!" I cried. She pulled me in for a hug.  
"I know. I'm sorry."  
"I was so worried." I said with my head buried in the crook of her neck giving her the biggest hug ever. Then she got worried.  
"Where's Alice?" I Pulled a chair up and started playing with her free hand.  
"She's at Home. Gus has got her. She's fine. Don't worry. Worry about you. What happened down there?"  
"We were working a serial Killer case. Guy called himself Bobo Del Rey. We were closing in on his last known location when a gunshot rung out and a Bullet smashed the Windscreen of the car in front. So we all got out and started firing at the shooter. It seemed like that shooter was Just a distraction. There was a sniper up on a building rooftop. Five Officers were killed in the space of two minutes. That's when Nicole got us all out of there. I stayed back to help any officers who were already injured. I got shot twice in the leg by the first shooter. Dolls got shot in the arm but it ricocheted through his body and ended up lodged in his ribs. Then Nicole came back for me. I got out of there but Nicole was shot in the back. She managed to crawl out of there, but she lost a lot of blood. We nearly lost her baby girl." I put my hand over my mouth and held back a sob.  
"Oh my god! But you didn't right? Obviously you didn't if she's in the next room."  
"Go and see her Wave. She could use a friendly face right now." I nodded.  
"Yeah. OK. Try and get some rest, Okay?"  
"Yeah." I stood up and left the room, shutting the door gently behind me. I walked into Nicole's room and sobbed at the sight. I'd only known her a couple of days but she had such a big effect on me. I feel like we've been friends for years. I sat next to her and held her hand.  
"Oh Nicole. I'm so sorry." I Whispered as she was still asleep. She started stirring and slowly opened her eyes. I squeezed her hand.  
"Nicole?" She looked over at me.  
"Hi" She whispered and smiled softly. I cried again and she wiped my tears away. I held her hand to my cheek and smiled at her.  
"Are you OK? Stupid question. Of course you're not OK, you were shot. You're gonna be Ok though, you're gonna..."   
"Waves. You're rambling"   
"Sorry. I was just so worried. When I first saw the report, I tried to call you but there was no answer and then I saw it was you that was hurt and I called Gus and raced here. I needed to see you."  
"I'm glad your here. I'm so sorry" A tear rolled down her face.  
"What do you have to be sorry about?"  
"I said I'd be safe and I tried to be a hero and now look where it's got me" It was my turn to wipe her tears away.  
"Hey. You wouldn't be a very good sheriff now, if you didn't try and save everyone, would you?" She laughed softly.  
"I guess not. Hey, are you OK?"  
"Yeah. I'm fine. I was just really scared for you." I rested my hand on her arm. We sat and talked for a few more hours.

"Hey Waves?"  
"Hmm?" I was falling asleep slightly.  
"Why don't you go home for a bit? Get some rest?"  
"I don't want to leave you."  
"I'll be fine till Tomorrow. Just go get some rest and I'll still be here in the morning" She chuckled. I nodded and stretched as I stood up. I rested my forehead on hers and then kissed her cheek as I pulled away.   
"I'll see you tomorrow"   
"Bye" She said softly as I left. I went Back into Wynonna's room and told her I was going home. I got back in my car and sighed. I felt the tears roll down my face again. I wiped them away, sighed deeply and drove home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thing about this chapter. When I wrote it on the original site, I had a lot of comments telling me that the drama was introduced too quickly. So, when I wrote this chapter, I wrote it with a time jump of about three weeks. It is the only chapter that doesn't directly connect with the last.

Wynonna( OH MY GOD! SOMEONE WHO ISN'T WAVERLY! Don't worry, it won't last)  
"Xavier! Get your ass down here right now! We have to go or we will be late picking Alice up!" I Yelled up the stairs to my pain-in-the-ass husband. He acts like he lost an arm when he was shot, he's just milking it now, He's fine. The Doctor even said so when his stiches were taken out last week. Then Waverly walked in with a cup of tea in her hands.  
"I can get her. "  
"You don't have to, baby girl."  
"I want to, plus then you don't have to go out in the cold."  
"Waverly..."  
"I am picking Alice up. End of Discussion. Plus you owe me."  
"For what?"  
"For getting shot. So whether you like it or not, I'm going." I sighed, knowing I'm not going to win this argument.  
"Fine." She smiled and downed her tea then got her coat and left. Xavier came downstairs at that point, trying to get his other shoe on.  
"You ready?"  
"Waverly's gone to get her." I chuckled and he glared at me and took his shoe off. He sat on the stairs in a huff.  
"Are you freaking kidding me?"  
"Nope. Deadly serious."  
"Why did she go?" I sat next to him and put my head on his shoulder. I played with his fingers.  
"She said we owed her. Plus I think she's hoping to run into Nicole."  
"That makes sense" I laughed and stood up. I pulled him up and we walked into the lounge.  
Waverly

Haha Yes! I got Wynonna to agreed to me picking Alice up. I pulled up outside the daycare and saw Nicole stood by the door looking down at what I presumed was her phone. I went up behind her and tried to scare her. I hadn't even reached her when she noticed me.  
"Hi Waves." I went round the front of her and she was smiling at her phone. I huffed in fake annoyance.  
"How did you know it was me?"  
"I recognized the perfume, doofus. If you wanted to scare me, you should maybe change the brand before you do." She had turned around by this point and was smiling down at me. I folded my arms and pouted.  
"How rude that you recognized my perfume" I hugged her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested them on the back on my shoulders.   
"I'm sorry, would you like me to act scared next time?" I nodded and she laughed and kissed the top of my head.  
"How was your first day back?"   
"It was good. Quiet, the Deputies were all out on patrol so it was just me today. I was so bored. I wish you came over." I let go and looked at her.  
"I'm sorry, I would've, but we were slammed today. We always are on game days."  
"I know. That's why I didn't text you asking you to come keep me company. It's fine, maybe next time"  
"Yeah. Definitely next time." The door was opened and all the parents/ Guardians walked in and went to their child's room. 

"Hey, how come Wynonna isn't picking Alice up?"  
"They were running late, So I came instead. But if you'd rather them here, I could call them and go home" I Joked and went to walk away. Nicole grabbed my arm and pulled me back, gently.  
"No! Erm... I mean... I like you picking Alice up. I get to see you then and I like y... seeing you. I like seeing you." She coughed awkwardly. I smiled.  
"Well, I like seeing you as well." She smiled at me widely, I reciprocated the smile, just as wide. We just looked at each other for what seemed like a really long time. Alice's voice broke us out of our staring Match.  
"Aunt Waverly!" I Bent down to hug her and she nearly knocked me over. I hear Nicole snigger and I shot her a playful glare.  
"Hey Munchkin!"  
"What are you doing here? I thought Mommy was picking me up?"  
"Well, I wanted to pick you up today. Is that Okay?" She nodded, hard.  
"Yep!" I stood up.  
"Hey, How bout I take us all out for some food?"  
"Waves... You really don't have to."  
"But I want to. What do you say girls?" They both cheered.  
"Yeah!" I looked at Nicole and smiled. She shrugged.  
"I guess we are going for food then."   
"Come on then. Everyone in the car." They all piled in the car and Nicole kissed my cheek before she got in.  
"Thank you"  
"My pleasure. Now, I think they are getting quite restless." I chuckled and we got in the car. The girls were screaming for Waffle house so we went there. When we parked up, the girls raced out of the car but they waited for us by the doors. When we caught up, we went in.   
When we got a booth, I spoke to the girls.  
"Girls. If we go out again, don't run off OK? There are a lot of cars around and they could hurt you if they don't see you."  
"Sorry Aunt Waverly. Sorry Nicole."   
"It's OK, just don't do it again."  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
SO...... This is going to be a two part chapter as there is too much to put into one chapter. So The next Chapter will carry on from there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, with this chapter, It is a continuation of the last one. All my chapters are around the same length and this one would've been really bulky if I hadn't cut it in half. So, this is basically Chapter 6 part 2

'It's fine. Just don't do it again'  
I picked up a menu and passed it to the girls who were sat together opposite Nicole and I. Then Nicole put down a Menu in front of us.  
"What do you want, Waves?"  
"Erm... I'll just get a grilled cheese I think with a hot chocolate. What about you?"  
"I think I'll get a BLT With a tea." I put our menu back and turned to the girls.  
"What are you getting girls?"  
"Can I have Grilled Cheese with Hashbrowns please Aunt Waverly?"  
"Of course you can. What about you Emily? What you getting, sweetie?"  
"Can I have Waffles with Bacon please?"  
"Absolutely you can." The Waitress came over and I ordered all the food.  
"And what drinks are going with those meals today?"  
"Can I have a Hot chocolate, a tea. What drinks girls?"  
"Can we have Two Chocolate Milks please?"  
"Of course sweetie. Is that all today guys?"  
"Yes, thank you."  
"I'll be back with your drinks soon" The Waitress walked away and I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.  
"Excuse me guys. I'll be back in a second."  
"Is everything OK, Waves?"  
"Yeah, Probably just Wynonna wondering where we are. It's fine." I stood up and walked outside. I answered the phone.  
"Hello?"  
'Baby girl, where are you?'  
"I took Nicole and the girls to Waffle house. Sorry, I meant to call and tell you but it slipped my mind completely."  
'It's fine, Wave. I was just worried that you were hurt.'  
"No, we're OK. Oh and it's just gonna be you two for dinner tonight, I'm gonna take them out somewhere else as well. We'll be back late, so don't wait up"  
'OK. Thanks for the heads up. I'll see you in the morning then. Love you'  
"Love you too"   
I hung up the phone and went back inside.  
"All sorted?"  
"Yeah, It was Wynonna."  
"Ah. Wondering what time we'd be back?"  
"Exactly. So what are we on about?"  
"Emily was just telling me how her and Alice made a huge sandcastle in the sandpit."  
"Oh really? How big was it, Emily?"  
"Huge! Bigger than us!"  
"Wow! That's big! How did you reach the top?"  
"We asked if we could use the chairs to reach."  
"Oh wow! Did you reach then?"  
"No, we had to go on our tiptoes."  
"Wow! That is a really big Castle!"  
"Yep!"  
"You must be proud of that?"  
"Yeah!"  
"What else did you girls do today?"

Nicole (OMG!)  
Waverly and the girls were in an animated conversation about the girls' day at daycare. I smiled at her. She's so good with the girls, she'd make an amazing mom one day. I was brought out of my little daydream by my phone buzzing.  
From: Mason  
Mom. Where are you? Why aren't you home yet?  
To: Mason  
Relax, I'm OK. I'm at Waffle house.  
From: Mason  
Why the hell are you at Waffle house?  
To: Mason  
Because a friend has treated me, Emily and her niece to Waffle house. And watch your Language young man.   
From: Mason  
Sorry. Well do you know what time you'll be back?  
To: Mason  
Late. So get yourself some dinner and don't wait up, OK?  
From: Mason  
OK mom.   
I put my phone away and saw Waverly was looking at me. I looked over to the girls were colouring.  
"Everything OK?"  
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be"  
"You were texting pretty fast then."  
"Oh that. Yeah, I was texting Mason. He was wondering what time I'd be home."  
"Oh right. Obviously, if his daughter wasn't home yet, he'd worry." She smiled softly and I laughed. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.  
"You think that Mason is... Emily's...." I laughed even harder.  
"He isn't?"  
"No. I'd be a bit concerned if he was. He's 13."  
"13?"  
"Mason's My son. He's my Eldest. I had him quite young, I was still in High school." She flushed bright red.  
"I am so embarrassed. I cannot believe I thought that he...." she buried her head in her hands. I pulled her in to a hug.  
"It's fine." I chuckled. It was pretty funny.  
"Oh my god." I laughed and she shot me a playful glare.  
"What?"  
"We will never speak of this again." She pointed her finger at me to show she was serious. I held out my pinky finger and she curled hers around mine.  
"I promise" she nodded and then the food arrived. We ate in relative silence, only a few times would we speak and it was to each other as the girls were so in love with their food, they probably wouldn't have spoke to us anyway. So we just spoke about work and life in general. When we finished all our food and our drinks, we got the bill.  
"I'll get that" I said, pulling out my wallet of my pocket and I felt a hand on my arm.  
"No, I'll pay."   
"Waves. We were asked to come here, it's only fair if I pay."  
"Exactly, I asked you. Therefore, I will pay"   
"No. I'll pay."  
"I'm not arguing Nicole. I will pay for the food."  
"Waverly" I shot her a ' I will win this' look.  
"Nicole" She shot back.  
"I am paying. End of Discussion."  
"Nope. I'll pay" She went to go get up and I dragged her back down.  
"I will pay."  
"Nicole?"  
"Yes?"  
"How are you meant to pay, if I have to get up for you to get out? So I will pay." I sighed in defeat and folded my arms. I had a pout on my face. Waverly kissed my cheek.  
"Aww, is the big bad cop upset that she can't pay?" I nodded.  
"Yeah" I said in a childish voice. She smiled.  
"You're too cute" I stuck my tongue out at her. She just chuckled and went to pay the bill. After she payed, we all walked outside.  
"Thank you for today, I really enjoyed it."  
"We aren't done yet. How do you feel about going bowling and watching a movie??" The girls cheered.  
"Waverly, I can't let you pay for it all. Let me pay for bowling."  
"How about this. If you beat me at Bowling, I will let you pay. If you don't, I'll pay."   
"Game on" We all got in her car and drove the bowling alley. While I was getting the girls shoes on, Waverly explained our little deal and the attendant allowed it. So we played a frame and so far Waverly was winning. She came up to me and whispered in my ear.  
"Looks like I'm paying then."  
"Oh no you're not." It was my last turn, Waverly was still winning. I took a deep breath and launched my ball down the alley. I got a strike which took my score one point above Waverly's. I walked towards her.  
"I guess I'm paying for bowling then." She sighed.  
"Ugh, fine." We went back to the desk and handed all the shoes back and I payed while Waverly helped the girls put their shoes on. We all went to leave and I grabbed Waves' hand, almost by instinct. She looked at our hands and she smiled. When we got to the movie theatre, we decided to watch Mamma Mia 2, because all of us really want to watch it. Waverly bought the tickets and I bought all the snacks and stuff, much to Waverly's dismay. She finally caved in though and we got everything and took our seats. Almost as soon as the movie starts, Waverly moved the arm rest between our seats and cuddled into me. Her head fell into my shoulder and my hand went around her waist and rested on her hip. It was like we've done this a thousand times before. This felt right. We fit perfectly with each other, like two jigsaw pieces.   
There was no-one else in the theatre so Waverly sang along to the songs softly. About half way through the movie, I heard Alice.  
"Aunt Waverly?"  
"What's up Munchkin?"  
"Em needs the bathroom."   
"Okay." Sh moved from her position and took Emily to the bathroom and I immediately missed the contact. Alice scooted over and sat next to me  
"Do you like Aunt Waverly?"  
"I'm sorry?" I nearly choked on my drink.  
"Do you Like her?" I sighed.  
"Yes. I do. But you can't tell her OK?"  
"Does she make you happy?"  
"Very happy. But I need you to promise me you won't tell her."  
"I promise" She scooted back over to her seat and then the girls came back. She cuddled back into me.  
"OK?" She hummed in response. I gently kissed the top of her head and she snuggled into me further. We stayed like that for the rest of the movie. When the movie ended, the girls used the bathroom while we waited outside. After the girls came out we all walked to Waverly's car and she took us home. When we got back to mine, Emily went straight inside to bed.  
"Thank you for tonight." I said, leaning against the door frame.  
"My pleasure."  
"Next time we go out, I am paying."  
"Next time?"  
"Oh. Only if you'd...."  
"Nicole. I'd love to."  
"Good. Well, Goodnight. Thanks again." I kissed Waverly's cheek and she got back in the car and drove away. I closed the door and leant against it. I smiled widely to myself before going to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Waverly  
I walked downstairs, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I made myself a cup of tea and took a sip. I sighed in pleasure as I felt it slide down my throat and warm my insides. I turned around and rested my back against the counter. I saw Wynonna was sat at the table with a cup of coffee and a case file.   
"You came in late last night."  
"Yeah. I took Nicole and the girls bowling and then we watched The new Mamma Mia."  
"Sounds fun."  
"Yeah it was." I said with the biggest smile on my face. I sat down on the chair next to her. I held my cup in my hands to warm my hands up a bit.   
"So where's Alice?"  
"Xavier took her to daycare today. You know, he really treats Alice like she's his own." I leant forward and put my hand on top of hers.   
"That's because he loves her. And you. Don't forget that. I gotta go to work." I squeezed her hand gently, she smiled up at me. I stood up and got my coat and bag.  
"Gotta give Nicole her coffee?" She smiled at me. I smiled back.  
"Maybe. But how...?"  
"People talk baby girl."  
"Oh."  
"Well go on then. Go see your girl." I blushed a bit and went to get in my car. When I pulled up at work, I saw Nicole's car there. I locked my car and walked in. Nicole was leant over the counter talking to Gus.   
"Here she is." I walked over to them.   
"Hey!"  
"Hey you. What... What are you doing here this early?"  
"I need to talk to you. Alone." She seemed really nervous. I took her upstairs to my old apartment. I sat on the bed while she stood up, pacing. I patted the bed and she sat next to me and started playing with my hand.  
"What's up?"  
"I've been cleared for patrol. I start back today."  
"Oh right. Congratulations." I stood up.  
"Are you mad?"  
"I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?" I lied. Of course I'm mad. She promised me she wouldn't go back on patrol for at least two months.  
"Good. I just thought I'd let you know what was happening."  
"Well, thank you for letting me know. Excuse me a second." I went outside and took a couple f deep breaths. I heard Nicole behind me.  
"Waves.... I..."  
"Just.. Don't Nicole." She stood in front of me.  
"Are you mad at me?" She asked in disbelief.  
"Yes Nicole. I am Mad at you. You promised Emily. You promised me."  
"Waverly, this is my Job. I can't just say no to going out!"  
"Yes you can! You are the sheriff! You can just say no!" I walked away.  
I must have been walking for a good 45 minutes to an hour and it was starting to get really cold now. I wrapped my arms around myself to try and keep some more heat in. Then Nicole's car pulls up next to me and drives slowly.   
"Waverly, what are you doing?"  
"Walking. What does it look like?"  
"It's freezing out. Just get in the car."  
"No thank you." I wrapped my arms further around me.  
"I have a taser. Don't make me use it." She joked. Don't joke, I'm mad at you. I sighed and got in the car. Nicole turned the heat up.  
"Talk to me Waves. What's going on?"  
"Everything's just moving so fast! Wynonna is working on a new case with Dolls, you're going back on patrol and I feel like I'm not even allowed to be worried about any of you cause that will scare the girls. I just want everything to slow down for one god damn minute!" Nicole grabbed my hand.  
"Hey. It's OK. It's gonna be OK."  
"I just yelled at you, you shouldn't be nice to me."  
"Well maybe I want to be nice to you." I chuckled.  
"I'm not used to it."  
"That's because you've been dating too many shitheads." She chuckled.  
"We're not dating!" I pulled my hand away.  
"I Know." She said quietly and there was a beat of silence before she spoke again.  
"God, Waverly I would never ask you to be someone you're not."   
"Good, just... don't ask me to be anyone at all."  
"Fine!"  
"Fine!"   
"What do you even want?"  
"I don't know... Maybe just friends." I Looked at her and she scoffed.  
"Sure Waverly, whatever you want. Let's get you home." She put the car in drive and drove me home. When I got out of the car, she drove off. I ran my hands through my hair and walked in. I leant against the door and sighed. What have I done. I walked into the kitchen and made myself a hot chocolate.   
"You're home early."  
"Yeah. I'm not in the mood to work." I sat down at the table next to her.  
"What happened baby girl?"  
"I screwed up. I really screwed up?"  
"What did you do?"  
"I told Nicole that I wanted to be just friends. We aren't even dating and I feel like I've really screwed up."  
"You have to tell her truth. You have to tell her how you really feel."  
"I can't do that. She's never gonna speak to me again."  
"You don't know that baby girl."  
"You didn't see how hurt she was when I said it."  
"Just give her time and a bit of space and she'll come to her senses. But you need to tell her the truth." She stood up.   
"Where you going?"  
"Picking Alice up."  
"I'll go. I need to get my car anyway."  
"You sure?"  
"Absolutely. You stay here and relax. I'll bring her straight back."  
"Thank you." She sat on the couch and I left to go pick her up. Alice came out and we got straight in the car.   
"Where's Nicole?"  
"We aren't seeing Nicole today darling. Mommy wants you home, she wants to spend time with you."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah, We'll see Nicole and Emily another time, OK?"  
"OK" We drove home and we had a girls night all night, watching movies, doing each others hair. All that awesome stuff. Dolls wasn't home, he was working so we had the house to ourselves all night. It was the best family night I've had in a while.


	9. Chapter 9

Nicole  
"Mason! Come on! I'm gonna be late for work, and you need to be at school in 20 minutes!" I yelled upstairs. I really wasn't feeling work today, I wasn't in the mood. Everything that Waverly said was running through my head. She was right. I shouldn't have gone back on patrol and I lied to her when I promised I would wait. I wish I could go back to yesterday morning and do it all over again. I heard giggling from the sofa.  
"What are you laughing at, princess?" I leant over the back of couch.  
"Mason's a butthead." I laughed.  
"Yes, he is. He is a Butthead. Mason Lucas Haught! Get your butt down here right now! We are leaving in five minutes whether you are ready or not!" He ran downstairs pulling his hoodie over his head. He got his bag sorted.  
"Ready mom."  
"OK, let's go troops!" We all piled into the car and I dropped Emily off first and saw Waverly drop off Alice, presumably before she goes to work. She saw me and waved slightly with a small smile on her face. I reciprocated both actions. Then I heard Mason from the back.  
"When are you going to tell her?"  
"Tell who what?"  
"Waverly. When are going to tell her you like her?"  
"What are you on about? We're friends. That's it. Nothing more."  
"Yeah, OK. You look at Waverly the same way you looked at momma. You need to tell her. Cause I know she likes you as well."  
"Well she has a funny way of showing it." I said under my breath.  
"What?"  
"Nothing. Let's get you to school, eh?" I drove Mason to school and he got out and I rolled my window down. He leant in.  
"Don't forget I have my game this Saturday. Please don't miss it."  
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."  
"And tell Waverly." He walked into school and I drove to work. When I got out of the car, I walked straight into my office and threw my hat on my desk. I grabbed a case file and sat on the couch. I started flicking through the file and came across a name I recognized. Bobo Del Rey. He must have got away during the fire fight. I ran my hand through my hair and took out my phone.  
To: Wynonna  
We have a problem.  
From: Wynonna  
What's wrong?  
To: Wynonna  
My most recent case file. Bobo Del Rey is mentioned as a suspect.  
From: Wynonna  
Bobo? I thought we apprehended him?  
To: Wynonna  
He must have escaped.  
From: Wynonna  
Shit. Don't worry about it. It's gonna be fine.   
To: Wynonna  
Yeah. You're right. OK.

I put my phone away and put the file in my desk. One of my deputies needed to go out on a call so he got me to man the front desk cause I was the only other one in. After about 40 minutes of being on my own and being insanely bored, Waverly came in.  
"Is everyone out?"  
"Yup. All out on patrol, why?" She didn't answer me, she just walked into my office and started closing the blinds. She took her coat off when I got there.  
"You can't just.."  
"Excuse me" She moved me out of the way and closed the door.  
"What is your problem?" I was about to finish the question but she cut me off by kissing me. I instantly kissed back. It wasn't rushed or rough. It was gentle but full of passion and emotion at the same time. She started pushing me to the couch and got on top of me. If by instinct, my legs lifted to give her more room. I pulled away, trying to catch my breath.  
"What happened to friends?" I asked, confused.  
"You know what I've always wanted?"  
"What?" I was concerned as to where this was going.  
"To Parachute out of a plane at 15 thousand feet. Look, my point is, I've always been honest about wanting to do things that scare the shit out of me. But it's not so easy to do that... When the thing that scares you is sitting right in front of you."   
"I scare you?" I smiled at her and she smiled and nodded.  
"Yes. But I love it. I don't want to be friends. The thing that I've always wanted to do... Is You. That sounded so much more romantic in my head." I laughed.  
"You're doing fine."  
"Maybe I should just stop talking." I wrapped her scarf around my hands.  
"Now you're getting it." She smirked.  
"Maybe you should stop talking as well."  
"Maybe you should make me." I smirked back and she leaned back in to kiss me. It wasn't as deep as before but it was still slow and gentle. I flipped us over so we were in the opposite positions. I left small kisses on her lips before deepening the kiss again. Waverly put her arms around my neck and my arm went to rest on her hip. She pulled away.  
"I need to go back to work." She said, trying to catch her breath.  
"Do you have to?"  
"Yes. I do, if I want to get paid for today. I will see you later though." She smiled. I leant back in and kissed her once more before I was gently pushed away, I laughed as I watched Waves stand up and put her stuff on. She fixed her hair before walking over to me and kissing my cheek gently.  
"I'll see you later." She whispered.  
"OK." I said softly and watched her walk out with a huge grin on my face. Well, this day just got a whole lot better. I tackled most of the paperwork quite quickly, counting down the hours until I could see Waves.


	10. Chapter 10

Wynonna  
While I was on my way to pick up Alice from DayCare, I decided to stop in to Shorty's and see Waverly. I hadn't seen her all day.   
"Never fear! Your favorite drinker is here!" I yelled as I burst through the door. As soon as I walked in, All three of them turned around and looked at me. Then I heard Gus say:  
"We'll talk about it later." I walked up and leant on the bar.  
"What's going on?"  
"Nothing, what's up?" Waverly said, smiling.  
"I just wanted to see you. I was on my way to pick Alice up and thought I'd drop in. You left pretty early this morning."   
"Yeah, I needed to catch up on the hours I missed while you were away."   
"Fair. Hey, do you wanna pick Alice up instead?"  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. She keeps asking for you to do it. She really likes hanging with you and Nicole. Plus I have a ton of work, that I should get back to."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Absolutely." She took her apron off and came out from behind the bar.   
"I'll give you a ride to the office."  
"You don't need to."  
"It's fine. It's on the way."  
"I'm good, I need to talk to Gus anyway." She looked at me suspiciously but shrugged.  
"OK. Well, text me when you get to the office.""  
"I promise." She hugged me then left. I turned to Gus.  
"What's going on? What aren't you telling me?" She sighed.  
"We think Bobo escaped and is back in town."   
"Yeah, I know."  
"How?"  
"His name was mentioned in a new case file. I was going to check on a lead after I dropped Alice here with Waverly."  
"Why did you lie to her?"  
"Because of what happened last time I came across him. And I had the correct protection last time. I don't have any protection this time, so who knows what will happen. I don't want her finding out where I'm going unless I need help. Got it?"  
"Got it."  
"Thank you." I left the bar and got into the SVU that Just pulled up and drove to our location.  
Waverly  
I was waiting at the door to the DayCare when I felt hands cover my eyes.  
"Guess who?" I pretended to think about it. I knew who it was by the smell.  
"Hmmmm...... Is it the super gorgeous, sexy and badass Sherriff that Strives to protect our town?"   
"What?" I chuckled.  
"Hi,Nicole." Her hands came down from my face and I turned around.  
"How did you know?"   
"Well, maybe change your smell next time, put some different perfume on."  
"Huh?"  
"Nicole, you always wear the same stuff. You always smell like Vanilla dipped Donuts. It's my favorite." She pouted, like a child at the fact that I could recognise her that easily. She looked so adorable. I so wanted to kiss the pout off her face, but couldn't. I got snapped out of my thoughts by Nicole.  
"Waverly. Wave."   
"Huh? What was that?"  
"You were staring. Do I have something on my face?"  
"Yes. You do."   
"What?" She covered her face with her hand. I grabbed her hand and held it beside her.  
"You had a really cute pout on your face and I wanted to kiss it off."  
"Well why don't you?" She smirked. My smile dropped and I let go of her hand.  
"I.... I can't."  
"Why not? You didn't have any problems doing it the other day in my office."  
"That was in your office. In private! This is...."  
"In front of people... Of course."  
"What? What, of course?"  
"You're embarrassed. You're actually ashamed that you like a woman. Wow."  
"Nicole..." I tried to grab her hand but she folded her arms across her chest.  
"Just don't. I thought you actually liked me."  
"I do... I really do. It's just..."  
"Just what?! Huh Waverly? Just.... Not in public?" I sighed.  
"That's what I thought. I'll see you around Waves." She took Emily's hand as she had just come out and walked away to her car without turning. My heart broke.   
"Auntie Waverly?"  
"Yeah?"   
"Aren't we staying with Nicole?"  
"No baby. We're not. Not today."  
"Why?"  
"Well, me and Nicole had a tiny fight. So we aren't really talking at the minute."  
"Oh."   
"Yeah. But come on. I'm sure Grandma wants to see you?" I took her back to my car and drove back to the bar. I gave her to Gus and ran up to my old apartment. I still stay there from time to time when I work late.  
I locked the door and just lay back on the bed, with a pillow over my face. Why can't I just admit that I like her and get over everything else. She really isn't going to speak to me now. I don't know how long I was up there until Gus came up.  
"Waverly. Honey?" She sat next to me.   
"Oh honey, what's the matter?"  
"I screwed up. Again." I sat up and held the pillow to my chest.  
"I tried to follow your advice and I went to sort things out with Nicole."  
"OK, that's a good thing."  
"But I've just made it worse."  
"How?"  
"I told her that I couldn't kiss her in public. "  
"Why?"  
"Cause... Cause I'm ashamed! I shouldn't be attracted to her! I should be attracted to Champ. To men. But no. I have to get sucked in to those eyes. And that face. Urgh!!!!" I lay back in frustration.  
"And now she's never gonna speak to me again."  
"Waverly... You have to see it from her perspective. She has two kids. She's obviously had relationships with women in the past and knows what she wants. She doesn't want to have to go through the hurt of being hidden again."  
"But she will be with me."  
"All you have to do is find a way to get over the shame you have for yourself and show her that she won't be hidden. That you can be a good parent to her kids as well. Anyone with eyes can see she likes you."  
"Easier said than done "  
"Hey I never said it was going to be easy. I just said you have to find a way to show her. The rest you have to figure out on your own." She patted my leg and stood up.  
"Oh. And Alice has fallen asleep, I'd suggest taking her home."  
"Yeah." I stood up and followed her out. I picked Alice up and took her home. All the while thinking about what Gus had said. Find a way to show Nicole how I feel and that she won't be hidden.   
How do I do that?


	11. Chapter 11

Nicole

"Mom? You OK?" I turned my head and saw Mason stood there in his PJ's. I checked the time. It said 2:30am.  
"What are you doing up? It's early."  
"I Saw the light on down here. I was worried about you after what happened." I put my arm around him and he snuggled into me, just like old times. I kissed his head and rested my head on his.  
"I'm fine baby. I've just been thinking."  
"About Waverly?"  
"Yeah. About Waverly. I just thought she'd be the one. But it turns out that's just a load of crap really. I thought that about your mom as well. I should just learn, shouldn't I?"  
"But Waverly really loves you mom. That's the difference. She's just scared. You have to help her not be scared." He looks up at me.  
"I can't. Not until she helps herself and figures out what she wants. I don't want to be hurt again."  
"Some people are worth it though."   
I look down at him.  
"When did you get so smart?"  
"I'm not a baby anymore mom." I Hugged him into my side tighter.  
"No. You're not. Although, you are going to school in a few hours. So go back to bed." We both stood up and walked to the stairs. I kissed his head again.  
"I love you mom."  
"I love you too kiddo." He walked back upstairs and I turned off the main light and switched a lamp on. I picked up the book I was reading and got settled for a long night. It was obvious I wasn't sleeping tonight. After a while, I heard a knock on the door. I checked my watch before getting up.  
"Waverly, if it's you I'm not in the mood......" I opened the door and saw a face, I never thought I'd see again.  
"Well, I'm not Waverly, so are you in the mood to see me?" She said with a hopeful smile. I wrapped my sweater around myself.  
"What... What are you doing here? It's 4am."  
"I wanted to see you."  
"But at 4am. You better come in." She walks in and I close the door behind her. I saw her sat on the sofa.

"So.....?"  
"What?"  
"Explain why you're here? After 4 years. You left me to deal with a Toddler! What kind of decent person does that?!"  
"A scared one. Look. I was so happy when we had Mason. I could handle that, but when Emily was born, I didn't know what to do. You know I grew up in a house full of boys. I didn't know how to look after a baby girl. So I bolted. It was a mistake and I'm sorry." I looked at her and then sat next to her and grabbed her hand.  
"Shae. Why didn't you just tell me that instead of making me think you'd been cheating on me for two years?"  
"Because I thought it would've been easier for you to hate me rather than know the truth."  
"Shae."   
"This is exactly the look I didn't want."  
"What look?" I asked, seriously confused. I didn't know I was looking at her in a particular way.  
"You're looking at me like you would a lost puppy. I just wanted to explain and apologise. I understand if you want me to leave now." She stood up and I grabbed her arm.  
"Stay. It's way too late to be driving now. Take the couch and we'll talk more in the morning. Maybe go for lunch."  
"That sounds really good." We both smiled at each other. Even though I like Waverly, I'll always love Shae.   
"I'll go get your blanket and pillow." I ran upstairs and grabbed her favourite blanket and a pillow from the closet and then walked back downstairs.  
"Here we go." I lay out the stuff on the couch.  
"You kept the blanket?" It was a blanket she got me for our anniversary. She got it made out of materials and T-shirts from every place we ever went on a trip.  
"Yeah, of course. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away when I moved. Now get some sleep." I said goodnight and turned out the light before walking up to bed myself.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
*THE NEXT MORNING*  
I walked downstairs to see that Shae was still asleep on the couch. She looked so peaceful. I decided to make breakfast for us all and we'd sit and eat like a family. Then Mason came into the kitchen with a shocked looked on his face.  
"Hey, morning."  
"Why didn't you tell me mom was here?"  
"Cause she turned up at 4 this morning."  
"Why is she here?"  
"She wanted to talk. To explain everything. She wants to make things right."  
"Oh. Cool."  
"Would you like that?"  
"For sure. I missed her."  
"Yeah, me too. Now, go wake your sister. We're gonna eat Breakfast as a family unit today."  
"OK." He bounded upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised that he's so happy about this. I went into the living room and she was awake, looking at me.  
"Hey, I didn't wake you did I?"  
"No. But the smell of that delicious cooking did. I missed it." I Smiled.  
"Well, it's all ready. Mason's just getting Emily up and then we can eat."  
"How do you think that's gonna go?"  
"Mason's actually happy you're here. A bit shocked at first, but he misses you. So does Em." Just then, they both came downstairs and Emily ran up to Shae first.  
"Mama!" Shae bent down and gave her the biggest hug ever, then stood up and saw Mason, who was a bit nervous. She opened her arms and he hugged her tightly.  
"I missed you mom."  
"I missed you too. Now, let's eat shall we?"   
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After breakfast was over, the kids were getting dressed and Shae and I were cleaning up.  
"That went really well."  
"I told you it would."  
"Hey, how about I take the kids to school today? Give you time to rest a bit more?"  
"That would be great except.... You don't know where the schools are."  
"Oh yeah." She laughed.  
"How about we take them together?"  
"I'd like that." We smiled and when the kids were ready, we left.  
"Is Mama coming?"  
"Yeah, she is baby."  
"Yay!"  
"That's awesome! We're like a proper family again." I looked at Shae and smiled.  
"Yeah we are." We got in the car and decided to take Em to school first.  
"Alright troops, here we are!" I said, as we pulled up outside the school.  
"I got this one." Shae and Emily got out of the car.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Waverly.  
As I waited for the door to open so I could take Alice inside, A woman walked up to the door next to me with Emily.  
"Hi Emily."  
"Hi Waverly! Hey Alice!" Emily waved to us.  
"Seems like she's fond of you."  
"Yeah, we've been hanging out a bit with Nicole. Speaking of, where is she?"  
"In the car. I've just come back to town and thought I'd take this little miss here inside today."  
"Right.... If you don't mind me asking, who exactly are you?" I folded my arms, as Alice and Emily ran off to play.  
"I'm Shae. Emily's mom. Well... Other mom. I'm Nicole's...."  
"Nicole's Ex. I know. She's mentioned you."  
"Oh she has?"  
"Yeah." Then the door opened. Thank God.   
"Nice to meet you but I gotta drop this one off and get to work. Tell Nicole I said hi though." I took Alice and left again, without a second look. I saw Nicole stood, leaning against her car. I think she saw me as well cause she stood up a little and looked at me kinda hurt. But then smiled again when Shae came back out. She used to smile like that with me. That is a genuine smile. Damn. I really hurt her this time.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter onwards is all in third person. I decided that it would be easier and less repetitive to do it this way.

Shae made her way back to the car slowly, trying to decipher the look she witnessed between Nicole and Waverly. Now, Waverly was pretty, there's no denying that but there was something strange going on between them. Nicole looked seriously hurt by her. She had to get to the bottom of it.  
"What was that?"  
"What was what?" Nicole answered as Shae stood in front of her.  
"There was some seriously weird vibes going on between you and Waverly."  
"Oh. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."  
"That didn't look like nothing, Nic." Shae said, putting a gentle hand on Nicole's bicep.  
"I'd rather not talk about it."  
"OK. But whatever it was, I'd sort it out with her if I were you."  
"What makes you say that?" Nicole said as she closed her car door and put her seatbelt on.  
"She misses you. You can tell by the way she looked at you when she saw you then."  
"I agree mom. Talk to her." Mason said from the backseat. Nicole turned around in her seat.  
"Hey!"  
"Sorry but momma's right mom." Shae had a small smirk on her face but quickly wiped it off as Nicole turned back around and started to drive.  
"Let's just get you to school, eh?" The rest of the drive was quiet on Nicole's part. She sat and thought deeply as she drove. Mason and Shae were right. She needed to talk to Waverly. But there was also a part of her, a very large part of her, that didn't want to talk to her. What Waverly said hurt, really badly, and Nicole just wasn't sure if Waverly could fix whatever they had between them before all this. They pulled up at a red light and Nicole ran her hand through her hair and sighed quietly. But it wasn't quiet enough. Shae whispered to Nicole.  
"You OK?"  
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just stressed." She smiled softly at the other woman who sat looking at her with a worried expression on her face. Nicole took Shae's hand gently as they drove off again as the light turned green. Shae looked back to see if Mason saw that and breathed a sigh of relief cause he was too busy playing a video game on his phone. Nicole heard the sigh and looked over slightly but still kept hold of her hand.   
When they pulled up at the front of the school, Mason got out of the car with his head still buried in his phone. When he closed the door, it was Nicole's turn to be worried.  
"You OK? Why were you worried if Mason saw?"  
"I don't want him to be confused. Or get his hopes up. You said we'd talk, but we might not sort everything out. Or you might decide after a while that you do wanna be with Waverly. I just don't want them getting hurt if it doesn't work again." Shae explained honestly.   
"Shae. Listen. I love you. I always will. And I want us to be a family again, I want us to work again. How about this? We take it slow and take it day by day and figure it out as we go. Sound good?" Nicole looked at Shae Hopefully. Both women smiled as Shae nodded.  
"Sounds perfect..... Would it be going too fast if I were to kiss you?"  
"Not at all. Sounds like an amazing way to start off." Nicole leant in, over the gear stick and captured Shae's lips with her own. The kiss was slow but full of passion and emotion as both women poured four years worth of love and hurt into the kiss.  
Nicole caressed Shae's cheek with her thumb as both women pulled away, slightly out of breath.  
"Wow."  
"I was right. An amazing way to start." The pair kissed once more, softly this time, before pulling away to drive home. Nicole had a day off today and she was glad of it.   
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The pair arrived back at Nicole's house and walked in, kicking their shoes off at the door.   
"Movie day?"  
"Sounds perfect." Shae sat on the couch as Nicole grabbed the remote for the TV and for Netflix before sitting next to her. Almost as an instinct, Shae lay down with her feet on the couch and her head in Nicole's lap. She looked up at a smiling Nicole.  
"Is this OK?"  
"Yeah" Nicole said before playing with Shae's hair. The TV turned on and the Netflix Logo flashed up on the screen.  
"What movie do you wanna watch?"  
"How about The nightmare before Christmas?"  
"Sure." Nicole found the movie and put it on before resting the remote on the arm of the couch. She kept playing with Shae's hair while the movie played. To anyone outside of their circle, they looked like a young couple that had been together for years, enjoying a movie day date at home. They looked peaceful and happy. Whereas Waverly, who was stood outside Nicole's front door, rocking back and forth on her heels with nerves, with no idea what was about to face her at the door. She went there with the plan of fixing things with Nicole and getting back on track. She knocked on the door lightly, but loud enough so that she could hear it even if she was upstairs.   
The door opened to reveal Shae stood there in Nicole's joggers and sweatshirt. She got changed just before opening the door.  
"Waverly! Hey! What are you doing here?"  
"Erm... Is Nicole in?" Is what she asked. 'I could ask you the same thing' is what she was thinking.  
"Yeah, but she's asleep at the minute. She fell asleep while we were watching a movie. We had a late night last night. Is there anything you want me to tell her?" She asked. Waverly stuttered slightly before answering.  
"Erm... N-No. I'm good. I'll catch her another time. It's fine. Enjoy your movie." She said and turned away to get back in her car. She drove back to the homestead and ran inside the house, ignoring the cry's of Wynonna. She shut her bedroom door and fell onto her bed sobbing. As she looked up, she saw a photo of her and Nicole on her bedside table. In pure anger, she picked it up and threw it at the door, watching the glass in the frame smash as it hit the door frame. She dropped her head into her pillow and sobbed even harder.   
Waverly heard her door creak open and the broken glass of the frame move, so she tried to stop crying.  
"Waverly? You OK?" She knew it was her sister, so she lifted her head to face her with tear tracks running down her face. She shook her head and began crying once more. Wynonna ran over an enveloped her in a hug. She lay on the bed with her little sister as while Waverly buried her head in Wynonna stomach and sobbed. Wynonna stroked her hair soothingly.  
"Oh babygirl. What did she do?" She knew instantly it was about Nicole. She never usually cries over a boy but she really liked Nicole. She had calmed down enough to speak but was still crying heavily, and she mumbled to Wynonna, telling her everything.  
"She's back with Shae."  
"She's what?!"  
"Shae's come back to town to fix things with Nicole. I went to her house to try and fix what I'd done and Shae opened the door. They were having a movie date at hers. Shae came to the door in Nicole's clothes. She told me that she'd never go back to her." Waverly dropped her head again as more streams of tears spilled out.   
"Wynonna?" Waverly's small and fragile voice came from Wynonna's sweater.  
"Yeah, babygirl?"  
"Please don't leave."  
"I'm staying right here. I'm not going anywhere." Wynonna kissed the top of Waverly's head and kept holding her. The room was silent besides the sound of Waverly's sobbing. After a while, the sobs stopped and her breathing evened out. Waverly had cried herself to sleep. When Wynonna was sure that she wasn't going to wake up, she stood up and placed Waverly's head on her pillow and covered her up with a blanket. It wasn't that cold tonight so she only put one blanket over her before closing her door and heading downstairs quietly. Wynonna was pissed off. Dolls was sat reading a book, with some light music in the background, on the couch when she came down. As soon as she sat down, he put the book away and opened his arms so she could cuddle into him.  
"How is she?"  
"Devastated. She cried herself to sleep. Nicole's really fucked up this time."  
"It's OK, Wynonna."  
"It's not OK! The bitch broke my sister's heart. She lied to her! She's going to regret hurting my little sister!"   
"Calm down. Just for tonight. It's late, you can talk to Nicole tomorrow."  
"Fine. But she better have good reason. Actually, no reason is gonna be good enough. Not when it comes to Waverly. I really thought she'd be the one as well. She was better than the rest."  
"I know. I'm disappointed too. Now, let's go to bed. Get some sleep and we'll figure it out tomorrow. OK?"  
"Hmm... OK." The pair stood up, turned all the lights off, turned the music off, locked the doors and went to bed. Not much sleep was had that night by Wynonna who was too worried about hearing Waverly cry again.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning when Wynonna woke up, the first thing she did was check in on Waverly. She opened the door slowly, so that it didn't make that much noise. When Wynonna put her head around the door, she saw that Waverly was still asleep. Smiling at how peaceful she looked, compared to last night, she closed the door again and headed downstairs.   
"Is she still asleep?"  
"Yeah. Thank god. I hate seeing her how she was last night."  
"I know baby. I gotta get to work. You coming with me or will I see you there?"  
"I'll see you there. I gotta do something first."  
"Just... Leave her conscious." she laughed as Dolls walked out of the house. She listened for the car pull out of the driveway and left the house herself. Waverly wouldn't be awake for a while so she had time. She was determined to make Nicole see how much she had hurt Waverly. In any way she could. When she got to Nicole's house, her car was still there. So she banged on the door, to which Shae opened it.   
"Who are you?" Wynonna ignored her and pushed past her into the house.  
"Hello?"  
"Haught! Get your fucking ass down here right now!"  
"Hey! Don't speak to Nic..." Wynonna turned to her and squared up to her. Shae was easily 4 inches shorter than Wynonna so she had to look up at the woman.  
"Shut the hell up! Be grateful I'm here for Haught and not you." Just then Nicole came down, obviously had just woke up and didn't have time to react before being thrown against the wall and held there by Wynonna.  
"OK.. I know you're pissed but....."  
"Oh, I'm more than pissed! I'm ready to cut someone! You should be so lucky that I've been told to leave you awake when I leave. You and this slut have broke my little sisters' heart!"  
"She broke mine!"  
"Did you cry yourself to sleep that night? No! You just moved straight on to her!" Wynonna yelled and pointed at Shae with her free hand.   
"I spent last night with her head in my sweater, while she cried her heart out over you! I had to feel her body jerk as she sobbed.... Over you! I had to sit there while she cried herself to sleep because she didn't want to be alone. All because of the two of you! Now don't stand there and tell me she broke your heart!"  
"She cried?"  
"Yes! Dipshit! Waverly loves you! Like she really loves you! And yes she messed up, but we all mess up! She came over here to try and fix it! But instead she finds this skank in your clothes at the door while your asleep! I'm going to leave now and go check on my sister. I want you to do one thing."  
"What?"  
"Stay...Away....From....My....Sister. Got it?!" Nicole gulped and nodded harshly before being dropped to the floor. Shae ran over to see if she's Okay and Wynonna shook her head and left to check on Waverly one more time before going to work.

Wynonna got home and went straight to Waverly's room. She opened the door and saw her sat up in bed, reading a book on her e-reader.  
"Hey babygirl. How you feeling?" She said, around the door. Waverly looked up and smiled softly.  
"I'm better than I was. I'm just broken. I just can't believe she'd lie to me."  
"Well, she won't be anymore."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I went to see her. I told her to stay away from you. So you decide when you want to see her again. You decide when you're up for it. Please don't be mad. I was just..."  
"Come here." Waverly beckoned her in and Wynonna walked up to her bed. The younger sister enveloped her in a hug.  
"Thank you."  
"You're welcome. Listen I gotta go to work. You gonna be Okay here alone for a few hours?" Waverly nodded.  
"I'll be fine. I'll come downstairs with you and just watch trashy TV all day."  
"OK, just as long as you don't go into work."  
"I promise I won't leave the house." Waverly stood up and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and made her way downstairs with Wynonna. She sat on the couch after the door shut and turned on the TV. 'Say Yes To The Dress' was playing. Waverly smiled and settled down on the couch. It must have been about half way through the third episode when her phone rang. She leant forward and picked it up, before looking at the caller I.D. It was Nicole. She debated internally about answering it. She came to a decision and decided to ignore it. She ignored it four of five times, but then she got sick of it ringing so she answered it.  
"What?!"  
"Oh thank god! I was so worried."  
"Oh really Nicole. You were worried?"  
"Yeah."  
"What could you possibly say to make this situation any better? I gave you my heart and you crushed it."  
"Please let me fix this. I'm sorry. Truly."  
"Don't bother. You have a shiny new play thing now. Well, maybe not new but who cares right?"  
"Waves..."  
"I said don't bother Nicole. I loved you. Truly loved you. More than anyone and that scared the hell out of me. We hadn't know each other long but I knew I loved you and I shouldn't have. But I gave up on what society told me. I accepted that I would grow old with you and have a family with you and Mason and Emily. WITHOUT her in the picture! That's it. How much more simple could it be? You lied Nicole. YOU did. Not me. Yes I said some things that I regret, but I always tried to fix it. You can't fix this one."  
"Please...."  
"No. That's it. That's all I have to say. Don't call me again. Goodbye Nicole." Waverly hung up the phone with a sigh and a smile. She was proud of herself for being strong with her. She turned her attention back to the TV knowing that Nicole won't call again. 

Nicole stared at her phone in shock. Where did that confidence come from? But Waverly was right. She did lie and she did hurt her. She needs to fix this and keep her relationship with Shae. But she knows she's not gonna be able to do both.


	14. Chapter 14

Nicole had spent the last few days trying to figure out what to do in the aftermath of Wynonna's visit and Waverly's words when Nicole called her. On one hand, Waverly was her best friend before all this and she wants that relationship back but on the other she wants to really try with Shae. And that means not having Waverly in her life at all. She buried her head in her hands and sighed. Shae came over and put her hand gently on Nicole's shoulder. The frustration in Nicole's face was very clear when she lifted her head up to look at the worried woman.   
"What do you wanna do?"  
"I don't know. No matter what I do, I lose one of you. Do I have to choose?"  
"Yes. You do. Nicole this isn't gonna be easy, and you don't have to decide right away. But you do have to choose one of us."  
"Can't we just leave things the way they are for now?"  
"Of course." Shae kissed her head softly with a gentle smile on her face, feeling better for the time being. She still had no idea who Nicole was going to choose and neither did Nicole. It was going to be a huge surprise to them both.   
Nicole stood up from the couch with a groan and huffed as she walked upstairs to their shared bedroom. She accepted her fate and called in sick for work. She was in no frame of mind to help other people and solve their problems when she couldn't even solve her own. Even though the answer was right in front of her.   
She took the phone away from her face and looked up to see a photo of her, Waverly, Alice and Emily on the bowling day a while back. She turned the photo over and lay down on the bed, rolling onto her side so she was facing the wall and her back was facing the pictures. Nicole closed her eyes and dozed off into a restless sleep. What else could you do when you're faced with the biggest and most heartbreaking problem in your life?   
She tossed and turned all day and eventually gave up on napping. Nicole grabbed her phone and turned it on to see what time it was. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she realised that she had to go pick the kids up from school. So, she pulled her shoes on, not even bothering to tie the laces and ran downstairs to grab her car keys. When she got to the door and saw her keys weren't there, she called out to Shae.   
"Shae! Babe! Have you seen the car...." She stopped mid sentence when she saw a note sat on the kitchen island being propped upright on a plastic Tupperware box full of food. Nicole moved the note and opened the box, giving the food inside a smell. She smiled when she smelt that it was Shae's Lasagna. It was her favourite for lunch. She grabbed a fork from the draw nearest the sink and walked back to the food taking a seat and reading the note. 

'Nicole,   
I know you aren't feeling great today but I don't know why. I think it's because of everything that's going on with Waverly at the moment and I wish I could do more to help, but instead I'm making it worse. Anyway, before you freak out, cause that's what you do, I better clarify why I'm writing this note. I'm not leaving. Well I am, not town just the house. I've gone to pick the kids up from school and left you in bed for a bit. And I've also made you your favourite. It's the least I can do after everything I've caused. So don't panic, I'll be back soon. Rest up.   
I love you so much Nicole,   
Shae ❤️'

Nicole put the note down and smiled as she took another bite of the Lasagna. Shae was really trying to help in the best way she could. When she finished the food, she washed the box and put it away but left the fork in the sink for later and went back to bed. The food helped her feel a bit better but not much. It only really made her feel tired, if anything, so she tried to go to sleep again. The red head actually fell asleep pretty quickly, cuddling Shae's pillow.   
When Nicole finally woke up, it was dark outside. She looked down and she was changed into her PJs.   
'I didn't do that' She thought to herself and got up and walked downstairs where she heard talking and laughing. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, it went silent besides the odd shushing sound from Emily. She chuckled then rounded the corner into the kitchen to see all three members of her family stood there was a huge smile on their faces.   
"What's going on? Why do you look like I'm about to walk into an ambush and have the shit scared out of me?"  
"It's nothing like that." Shae said quickly, trying to ease Nicole's nerves.  
"So.... What then?" The woman wasn't any less confused. Especially by the fact that both kids were silent. Then Mason started to talk.  
"So... We know you've been feeling down with everything that's been happening with Waverly and we wanted to do something for you. So we asked momma on the way home to stop at the store for some stuff for you." Shae walked over to her and placed her hands over the taller woman's eyes, while the kids stepped aside. Shae guided Nicole over to the island and stopped her right in front of it.   
"You ready babe?"  
"I guess." She chuckled. Shae removed her hands and revealed a table full of stuff. There was bath stuff, cards, gift cards and on the dining table there was a candle-lit dinner for two with two backpacks next to it.   
"Guys! This is amazing! Thank you!" She gave the kids the biggest hugs possible and kissed their heads. Then she walked over to Shae and kissed her deeply and hugged her tightly. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and wiped them away as she rested her head on Shae's shoulder.   
"Do you like it mommy?"   
"I love it baby."  
"So why are you crying?" Emily asked.  
"Happy tears sweetie. I'm crying happy tears." She then pointed to the bags.  
"What's this??"  
"So the kids thought you could do with a night in tonight, with no worries. So they called your mom and she's coming to pick them up for the night. They've already done all their homework and their school stuff is there as well. All you have to do is pick them up tomorrow. And me and you are gonna have a quiet night in."  
"Date night?"  
"If that's what you want."  
"I do."  
"Date night it is."  
"When's my mom coming?"  
"She should be here....." Then the doorbell rang.  
"Now." Nicole chuckled at the timing and opened the door.  
"Hi mom" She said and hugged her mom before letting her in.   
"Hi sweetie. I heard about what's happening. And I'm happy to take the kids as long as you need."  
"Thanks mom, but just tonight will be fine." She said as the kids came speeding past, hugging their grandma, nearly knocking her down.  
"Hi babies!"  
"Hi grandma!!"   
"You guys ready?" They both nodded and showed her the bags.  
"Well, I'll get out of your hair. Enjoy your night." Her mom winked and left.


	15. Chapter 15

Nicole shut the front door and her and Shae made their way to the dinner table where the most perfect meal was waiting. Nicole laughed when she saw what it was.  
"Pizza? Really?"   
"Hey, the kids wanted to help and they can't cook so I let them order us pizza and soda. We basically have a picnic indoors."  
"Well, shall we forget the fancy stuff and go watch a movie and eat this?" Shae nodded and blew out the candles while Nicole grabbed the Pizza and soda cans. They set up a blanket and pillows on the floor and picked a movie on Netflix.  
"I love the kids, but I think they went over the top." Nicole said.  
"Oh yeah for sure. Now open." Shae said and fed Nicole a slice of pizza. Nicole laughed and covered her mouth so it wouldn't seem gross. Shae just smiled.  
"What?" Nicole asked.  
"I just love your laugh. It's so genuine and happy. It makes everyone else feel happy as well when they hear it." Now it was Nicole's turn to smile and stare.  
"What? Do I have sauce on my face?" Shae started wiping different areas of her face with her thumb and then Nicole grabbed her hand and stopped her. She caressed her cheek and kissed Shae gently but deeply. They pulled back but rested their foreheads on each others.  
"I just.... I love you so much. I don't know what I did to deserve you."  
"You were yourself. That's enough to get me. You're perfect the way you are." Shae whispered. The women turned their attention to the movie again, carrying on eating.   
While Nicole was having Date night inside tonight, Waverly was getting ready to go out in Wynonna's room.   
"Are you sure about this baby girl? You've just had your heart shattered into a million pieces. You are allowed to not want to date."  
"If Nicole moved on quickly, so can I. I need to do this. I need to forget."  
"Don't forget Xavier and I are gonna be there too so If you wanna leave just come find us, OK?" Wynonna had her hand on Waverly's shoulder. Waverly places her hand on top and smiled.  
"OK" She said and then carried on putting her makeup on.   
"I'll wait downstairs baby girl, OK?" Waverly just nodded and focused on her eyeliner. Wynonna went downstairs and sat on the couch next to Alice.  
"Listen here Miss. Me and Daddy are going out with Aunt Waverly for a while. Your father will come in, in a second and stay with you tonight until we get back. Then you have a choice. You can either go back to the barn with him and stay there or you can sleep here tonight and he can take you to school tomorrow."  
"I want..."  
"Ah. Choose later, OK. You might change your mind. There's no backsies on this." Alice laughed.  
"OK mommy." Xavier came downstairs in a dress shirt and jeans.  
"You know we're just going to a little restaurant babe right? Not some fancy thing."  
"I know. You're dressed nice, so why can't I?"   
"Good point. I hear Waverly coming." The door opened and Doc came in at the same time.  
"And here's Doc. OK madam, time to say goodnight." Xavier said to Alice. She ran up to him and he picked her up, hugging him into her shoulder.  
"Goodnight daddy."  
"Goodnight princess, I'll see you in a bit." He put her down and hugged Waverly.  
"Goodnight Aunt Waverly."  
"Goodnight monkey. Be good." And last but not least she said goodnight to Wynonna.  
"Goodnight mommy."  
"Goodnight baby. Be a good girl for your papa, OK?"   
"She always is, aren't you angel?" Alice nodded sharply at Doc's question. Wynonna and Doc shared a quick hug and the trio left to get In Xavier's car and headed to the restaurant.  
When the group arrived at the restaurant, they instantly spotted Waverly's date. He stood upright from his position of leaning on the wall and walked towards the car. He opened the back drivers side door and helped Waverly out of the car.  
"Thank you."  
"My pleasure. I'm Jake." Waverly shook his outstretched hand and he placed it back at his side.  
"I'm Waverly. Nice to meet you "  
"And you." He stretched his hand out again to greet Xavier and Wynonna.  
"Hi Jake, I'm Xavier."  
"Pleasure."  
"Wynonna."  
"Nice to meet you ma'am." He was turning out to be the perfect gentleman and that was solidified by the fact that he pulled Waverly's chair out for her and tucked it in as well before sitting down next to her. He kept his hand above the table at all times and never tried to make a move on her. Wynonna decided to question him on it.  
"So Jake? How come you haven't made a move on Waverly yet?, She's a good looking girl? Not good looking enough for you?"   
"Wynonna! Stop!" Waverly hissed.  
"It's fine, Waverly. I agree ma'am. She is an incredibly beautiful girl. But I was raise by my mama to never disrespect a woman by putting my hands on her when she hasn't given me express consent. I've been raised to be a gentleman, ma'am. And that's how I'll act around women. Especially beautiful ones Like Waverly."  
"I noticed you called my sister beautiful and not hot? Care to comment?"  
"I believe beautiful is the best adjective to describe a woman. Women are human beings, they are not temperatures or objects. So calling a woman hot just degrades her as a woman and as a human." Before she could ask another question, Waverly asked to speak to her. The girls walked into the bathroom.  
"What the hell are you doing?! You're embarrassing me?!!!" Waverly Whisper yelled. She didn't know if anyone was in here.  
"I'm trying to make sure he isn't like Champ. Or god forbid Nicole. I don't want to see you getting hurt again Waves."   
"Well thank you for looking out for me but stop with the questions."  
"I don't need to ask any more than that. I like him. He's nice and a gentleman. He clearly respects women."  
"Yeah, he does." Waverly smiled and the pair walked out of the bathroom and back to the table.  
"Everything OK?" Xavier asked Wynonna.  
"Yeah."  
"She doesn't want to go does she?"  
"No, definitely not. We're all good." The four of them enjoyed a nice meal together and had good conversation flowing all night. Wynonna checked the time and announced to Waverly and Jake;  
"It's been a lovely evening with you two, but we have to go. Our daughter is at home."  
"Of course, I understand. She must be waiting up for you."  
"I hope not, otherwise her dad is gonna get a slap." The four laughed slightly before Wynonna and Xavier stood up. Jake and Waverly stood up as well. He hugged Wynonna and shook Xavier's hand.   
"What do you wanna do baby girl? You wanna go home or you wanna stay and I'll come get you in a bit?"   
"I don't mind driving her home ma'am. That is if she wants to stay?"  
"I'm gonna stay Wynonna. I'll see you at home."  
"OK. Nice to meet you Jake. Make sure she gets home safe."  
"Don't you worry, I'll make sure." Wynonna and Xavier left then Jake and Waverly sat back down and ordered some dessert. They sat talking for, what seemed minutes, but really they talked for hours. She had forgotten all about Nicole and her heartbreak.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite a bit shorter than all my others. This is basically because I wasn't feeling any good vibes in this one when I wrote it. So, I turned it into a filler chapter for the next one.

Waverly crept in the homestead's front door really early in the morning. After the restaurant, her and Jake went out on a walk. Just talking. They never had moments of awkward silence. If they walked in silence, it was because they were listening to the crickets chirp or the birds waking up. They never ran out of things to talk about. It was the best first date Waverly had ever been on. He hadn't even tried to kiss her on the doorstep. He kissed her cheek and bid her goodnight. He could probably tell she was nervous about it and felt pressured and he didn't want that. Jake really was the perfect gentleman. He was perfect for Waverly. He was doctor but didn't judge that she was a barmaid. He didn't judge that she lived with her sister. Or the fact that she had a short relationship with a girl. He didn't even crack a sexusl joke. He just told her that it was Okay and it was nothing to hide or be ashamed of. He accepted all of that about her. He accepted everything Waverly told him about her that she thought was bad or embarrassing.   
Whereas Nicole judged that she'd never been with a woman before, she'd judged that she was scared about it. Nicole judged quite a lot of things about Waverly that she was insecure about. It made her smile widely when she thought about Jake and how accepting he is. But she couldn't shake her feelings about Nicole. Waverly snuck upstairs, being careful not to wake her sister. She knew Wynonna would just ask questions and it was way too early in the morning to deal with her and her comments. Waverly closed her bedroom door and kicked her shoes off before falling, face first, onto her bed. She didn't even bother to change out of her outfit or take her makeup off, she just fell straight asleep. She was totally wiped out by the date.   
Nicole and Waverly's world couldn't be any different right now. Waverly was just starting what would be the most peaceful night's sleep she's had since this whole thing started, whereas Nicole still was restless. The last movie that was played on her and Shae's date night had just ended and Shae was about to head up to bed.  
"I'm going to bed now Nic. You coming or are you gonna stay up a bit longer?" She asked with a look of hope that she would pick the first option. Nicole just shook her head and stood upright as she placed the last pillow back onto the couch.  
"I'm gonna stay up for a bit. I'm still not tired from that nap before. I'll be up later though." Shae gave Nicole a sad smile and the pair shared a small kiss before Shae went to bed and Nicole threw herself onto the couch with a quiet groan. As Shae shut the bedroom door, she sighed. She knew that it would take a while for Nicole to move on from everything that has happened, but she didn't know how much longer she could take the not knowing.   
She felt that they were falling apart again before they even fixed themselves. This whole situation was the nightmare that none of the women wanted to be in but all three women found themselves smack bang in the middle of. 

The next morning Shae came downstairs to find Nicole, fast asleep on the couch, holding her book up to her chest. She must have fallen asleep reading and she couldn't have been asleep long as she turned the movie off at like 3am and it was 6 now. She decided to leave the younger woman asleep while she made breakfast. It was more of a selfish decision though on her part to leave Nicole asleep. She couldn't face her at the minute. Not with how she was feeling, Shae was concerned that she wouldn't be able to stop herself giving Nicole a choice. And it wasn't a good choice. It would end it heartbreak for one of them. Shae had total sympathy for Nicole, being stuck in the middle of all this. When breakfast was ready, she woke the kids and they all ate breakfast while Nicole was still asleep. After breakfast, they all left the house to go to school but Shae didn't come home. She stayed out and wandered around town. Once Nicole was awake and ate the food that Shae left for her, she realised that She wasn't home. So she called Shae to find out where she was.  
"Hello"  
"Hey babe. Where are you? How come you aren't home?"  
"Oh. Right. I'm just in town. I probably won't be home until after you go to work."  
"Oh OK. Well, I gotta get ready. See you tonight. I guess."  
"Yeah. See you tonight." Shae hung up the phone and Nicole just got ready for work.

This happened every day for a few weeks. The exact same routine. Shae would leave the house with the kids before Nicole woke up and wouldn't see each other until later that night for dinner when Nicole would come home from work. All the while, Waverly would be getting closer to Jake. It did seem like Waverly was moving on from The red-haired woman.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a two month time jump from chapter 16 to 17. There is a bit of explanation as to what happened between Waverly and Jake in those two months so I'm not gonna explain just cause I'll be repeating what I've already written.

"So, Waves. Tell me about Nicole. You've never really talked about what happened between the two of you." Jake asked as the pair sat on the homestead's front step eating a tub of ice cream between them.   
"Are you sure you wanna hear this? I mean..."  
"Yes. I'm sure. It's part of your history and I wanna get to know you." Jake cut off Waverly's rambling by gently placing a hand on her leg.  
"OK. Well I met Nicole when she came into the bar I work at. She'd just started as Sheriff and was introducing herself to the locals. She even saw me topless which was interesting." Jake gave her a confused look.  
"The tap broke and started spraying beer all over me so I had to change and she had to help me get the shirt off cause it got stuck on my hair."  
"Ah OK."  
"Anyway, we started getting closer and one day we kissed. We started dating, kinda after that. I was scared cause I'd never liked a woman before and said some things I shouldn't have but I always made it better. She told me about her ex and then her ex came back to town and they agreed to try again after she said that would never happen. She broke my heart and it took me a while to get over it. But I'm glad I did." She smiled up at Jake and kissed his cheek.  
"Me too." The two carried on talking. Waverly told Jake more about her past and Jake told Waverly his story of how he came to move here from New York.  
"So how come you ended up moving from A big city like New York City to a tiny town like this?"  
"I had a past in New York. It wasn't a good one either. I was born in New York and grew up there and as I got older I got into a bit of trouble with some people. But I also realised that I couldn't deal with the speed of the city. I moved at more of a small town pace. You know? More chilled out and relaxed and less like you were racing for the last toy in the store kind of thing."  
"I get you. I'm the same, I don't think I'm cut out for big city living. I love it here. Plus I think my sister needs me too much, although she'd never admit it."   
"Yeah, I wish my brother was the same."  
"You have a brother?"  
"Yeah..." He was cut off by Shae's car pulling up the driveway.  
"I'm so sorry. I'm gonna go see what she wants. I'll be back." She kissed his cheek and stood up to meet the car away from the house. Shae got out of the car and made her way towards Waverly.  
"Waverly...."  
"What are you doing here?! I told you and Nicole to stay away."  
"I'm leaving town. You're the last person I need to see before I say goodbye to Nicole."  
"Why are you leaving? I thought you and Nicole were happy?"  
"We haven't been for a while. She needed to make a choice on which relationship to fix. Ours or yours. Either way one of us would've been hurt."  
"And? Which did she choose?"  
"She didn't. So I did. She didn't want to admit it, not after you two fell apart, but she really loves you, Waverly Earp. She really wanted to fix the bond between you two." Waverly looked back at Jake who smiled.  
"Why didn't she say that then? While she had the chance?"  
"She wanted to give you space. She knew you were mad and didn't want to see her. So she left it. But it hurt us more everyday. To the point where she wouldn't even come to bed with me at night. She slept on the couch every night."  
"I didn't know that."  
"Now you do. But anyway, I chose for her. So I'll be gone by 6. Go and see her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it."  
"Thank you." Shae nodded and got back in the car. Waverly went back to the doorstep and sat next to Jake.  
"Who was that?"  
"Shae. Nicole's ex."  
"You mean Girlfriend?"  
"Nope. Ex. They broke up again. She came by to tell me. She said I should go see her."  
"She's right." Waverly snapped her head over in shock. She thought he would disagree.  
"What?"  
"Shae is right. You should go see her. It's obvious by the way you went to talk to her that you aren't over Nicole. If you were... You would've told her to leave and came straight back. But you didn't. That tells me you still have feelings for her." Waverly sighed.  
"I don't want to leave you. You came all this way to see me."  
"Actually it was more for the ice cream. But sure, we'll say that." He laughed as Waverly pushed him playfully. 

Shae pulled up at Nicole's house and sighed. This was not going to be easy. She got out of the car and made her way inside. Nicole was sat on the couch. She stood up when she heard the door close.  
"Oh my god! I've been so worried! Where did you go?" Nicole hugged Shae and the pair went to sit on the sofa.  
"I went to see Waverly." Nicole perked up when she mentioned Waverly.   
"How is she?"  
"She's fine. We need to talk though."  
"What about?"  
"Us. This isn't working Nicole. You know it's not. We've not been OK for months."  
"I know, I've just been so worried about making a choice. I didn't even think about how it was affecting you."  
"It really affected me. But I've chosen for you. I'm gonna leave town."  
"Why?!"  
"So you can focus on getting Waverly back. You don't have to worry about me. And If you are focusing on Waverly, me being here isn't going to help. It's just gonna bring back bad memories for the both of you."  
"What about the kids? They've loved having you back."  
"I'm not going back to Boston, don't worry. I'm just going to the next town over. Close enough to the kids that I can see them when I want but far enough that I won't harm yours and Waverly's relationship any more."  
"I'm gonna miss you."  
"I'm gonna miss you too."  
"I love you so much."  
"I know. I love you too. But you love Waverly more. Now I gotta go, I gotta get the keys to the house." Shae stood up, hugged Nicole one more time and left. When the door Shut, Nicole sat down and sighed. She felt sad, but she felt relief more than anything. Now she could fix everything, hopefully.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter with the explanation, in case anyone is confused as to why it wasn't in the last chapter,

"Are you sure you're gonna be OK getting home?" Waverly asked Jake as she put her coat on and prepared to see Nicole for the first time in months.  
"I'll be fine. I promise." He smiled.  
"OK, well Wynonna will be home soon with Xavier and I'm sure if you ask they'll..."  
"Waves. I'll be fine. I'll just call for a cab or something. I know you're nervous but you gotta go."  
"I know. OK. I'm ready." They hugged each other tightly.  
"I'm so sorry."  
"It's fine. Honestly. If I'm being honest, I expected it at some point."  
"But you came all this way."  
"Cause I love you. Nothing's gonna change that. Now go." He basically pushed her towards her car. Waverly got in the car, drew a shaky breath in and drove away. She thought about turning around and going home but she knew this was something she had to do. She needed answers. She wanted Nicole back more than anything. Before she knew it, she pulled up in front of Nicole's house. Shae's car wasn't there, like she said. Waverly got out and walked up to Nicole's front door and froze in front of it. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply before knocking twice on the door. To her surprise, Nicole opened the door quit quickly.  
"Waves? What?"  
"I heard about Shae."  
"Oh. I'm glad you're here actually. I wanted to talk to you."  
"Yeah. Me too."   
"Come in. Please." The pair entered the house completely and Nicole shut the door.

"Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. Do you want a drink or anything? Are you hungry?"  
"No thanks. I'm good. Just please sit down. I need to do this before I lose all confidence."  
"O...K" Nicole sat down next to Waverly and turned herself so she was facing her.  
"So... I just want you to know that you really hurt me."  
"I know. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. That seriously was not what I wanted. Me and Shae.... It just happened. I didn't plan it. We all thought it was a good idea at the time."  
"You say that you didn't mean to, Nicole. But you still did it. You didn't even think about it. You broke my heart."  
"I was hurting by what you said, OK? I know it isn't a good excuse but we just had a massive fight and then someone who actually wanted to be with me and show it in public turned up. At that point I didn't care who it was. I love you Waverly. You know that but I just needed that security."  
"I know I screwed up. But I was so scared. I love you Nicole and that terrified me. I've never been with a woman before, much less been in love with one. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if there was something wrong with me. But you didn't even give me a chance to explain."  
"Waverly... There is NOTHING wrong with you. Absolutely nothing. You are one of the most perfect people I've ever met. You fell in love. That's normal. It just so happened to be with a woman, that's also normal. Even if you didn't know it at the time. Did you know I had to choose? I had to choose between losing you or Shae."  
"I know. Shae told me before she left. She came to see me to apologise and tell me why she was leaving."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah. Listen, I may have gone on dates but I never stopped loving you. And I can't promise we will get back to normal straight away but I'd love to try? If you want to?"  
"I'd love that."  
"Maybe we should just rebuild our relationship from the start then? Get to know each other again?"  
"What are you saying Waves?"  
"Should we just be friends for now? Until we are both ready to try dating." Nicole nodded.  
"That sounds like a really good idea." The pair hugged tightly and didn't let go. They both had huge smiles on their faces.   
"As much as I would love to stay here like this all day and just watch movies and chill with you, the kids are gonna be home any minute and I have to explain to them what's happened."  
"Right. And it's best that I'm not here."  
"It's not that. I'm sure they'd love to have to here. Honestly, especially Em. She adores you. But it's just they're both gonna be upset about this and are gonna just want to have a family night."  
"Yeah, of course. It's fine. I get it. Hey, if we are starting again as friends, do you want me to come by work tomorrow and bring you your coffee?"  
"I'd love that. I missed you doing that and seeing your smiling face in the morning." Waverly smiled. The pair stood up and walked to the door. Nicole walked down to Waverly's car with her and they hugged once more before she got in the car and left. Nicole went back inside and thought about how she would tell the kids.

When Waverly got home, the first thing she did was run upstairs and phone Jake. Her and Jake went on a few dates before she told him that she thinks that she's gay. They had a great time on the dates but it felt more like they were best friends. He agreed with her. It felt more like hanging out with a friend than a potential partner. Plus he discovered that he was bisexual and started dating his current boyfriend. She phoned him, hoping that he'd pick up and he did. Very quickly.  
"So... How'd it go??"  
"Really well. We got everything out in the open and we agreed to try again."  
"Dating? Are you sure that's a wise idea babe?"   
"Not dating, No. We both decided that it'd be better to start again fresh. So friends until we are both ready to date again. Besides, Shae literally left today. So I doubt that she'd be ready for anything anyway."  
"So, are you still there?"  
"No, she has to break the news to her kids so we thought it'd be better if I left. I'm gonna see her tomorrow morning though cause we're getting back to our routine."  
"Which is?"  
"I used to bring her coffee in the morning and hang with her for a while before I offically start work."  
"How are you gonna be able to control your feelings?"  
"It's gonna be hard. For both of us. But we're gonna work on it. If we have a slip, that's all it is. A slip. It's not gonna affect our progress or anything."  
"It'll be an interesting story for the grandkids won't it?" Waverly laughs down the phone.  
"Oh yeah. For sure."   
"Hey Listen, I have Ben over so I'll call you later OK?"  
"Yeah. Have fun, be safe. Love you."  
"Love you too."  
"Bye" Waverly put her phone on her bedside table and just lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling with a huge smile on her face. Her life couldn't be better right now. She had her best friend, her and Nicole were fixing their relationship.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Waverly woke up with a smile on her face but a nervous feeling in her stomach. She was going to get back into the routine that her and Nicole started months ago before... Well, everything, I suppose. She was so happy about that, and about the fact that they were on their way to fixing everything but she couldn't help feel scared too. She didn't know whether Nicole agreed because she was trying to make a rebound of her or whether she was being genuine. The not knowing terrified her. She got up and did her morning routine as usual and made her way downstairs with a, sort of, spring in her step. Wynonna was downstairs drinking coffee and looking over old case files when Waverly came bounding into the kitchen.  
"So you and Haught good now?"  
"How do you know?"  
"You only ever get that happy about one person baby girl. And that person is Nicole. So did you sort everything out?"  
"Kind of. We've agreed to start fresh as friends. It's best for both of us, I think. You know, with me still kind of figuring out what I want in life and learning to completely trust Nicole again and she's just ended things with Shae. So it's not a good idea to get into a relationship right now."  
"As long as you're sure."  
"I am. This will be good for the both of us." Waverly said with a small smile. She moved towards the door and grabbed her coat. As she went to open the door, Wynonna called her back.  
"Waves!!"  
"Yeah?" She replied as she popped her head back into the kitchen. Wynonna held up Waverly's car keys behind her.  
"Forgetting something?" Waverly took the keys off Wynonna and headed back for the door.  
"Thank you!" Was the last thing she yelled before the door shut and left Wynonna in silence again. She got into the car and pulled away from the house and raced to the bar, she wanted to be sure that she had the coffee just right for Nicole before going to see her. Plus she felt she'd need a bit longer to talk today. When the coffees' were ready and poured into the takeout cups, she ran them over to the station. She walked in and saw Nicole in her normal spot on the front desk, leaning over a case file. Waverly rung the little bell gently.  
"Special delivery for a Sheriff Haught?" Nicole looked up from the case and smiled when she saw it was Waverly with coffee.   
"You are a life saver!"She handed the cup to Nicole and leaned over the desk to sneak a look at the file. But Nicole saw and snapped it shut.  
"Aw come on! Not even a peek?"  
"Not this time, Waves. It's super top secret. I'm the only one allowed to see it." Waverly nodded. She noticed that Nicole was acting really weird about this one. She shook it off and put it down to the lack of trust between them right now. It wasn't anything to do with trust though. This was the same case file she's been working on for months. More and More files have been coming in on Bobo Del Rey and they finally found a lead on him and his location. Nicole didn't want to tell Waverly because the last time she faced him, she ended up in hospital.   
"OK. Hey, how did last night go?"  
"Before I answer that, do you wanna sit down in the office?" Waverly looked at her watch and saw she had a while before she had to start work.  
"Yeah, of course." The two women took their drinks and went into the office. Waverly sat on the couch and Nicole closed the door, then joined her, crossing one leg underneath her.  
"So, I told the kids what happened."  
"How did they take it?"  
"They... It went OK. I suppose."  
"What does that mean?"  
"They were upset when I told them that she left. Which is what I expected to be fair."  
"Did you tell them why?"  
"No, I couldn't bring myself to do it. The kids love you, I didn't want to risk changing that."  
"So, what did you tell them instead?"  
"I told them that we tried to work it out, to be like how we were in the past, but we couldn't. That we'd both changed and grown as people and that our feelings had changed towards each other. And that's just what happens sometimes with grownups. Things change between them and feelings that were there once, doesn't mean that they are there all the time then. They disappear. You know? I told them that she's always gonna be in our lives, but not in the same way as before. She's gonna be just the next town over and they can see her whenever they want. I didn't lie to them, at all. I told them exactly what I was thinking, I told them the truth. Our feelings did change." Waverly didn't know what to say. She listened so intently to that the whole way through. But maybe not for the right reasons. She knew that she had to comment on it, but she just listened as a reassurance to herself that she really had changed feelings towards Shae and that it was a spur of the moment thing. She got broken out of her thoughts by Nicole's voice. It was softer than normal.  
"Waves? You OK?"  
"Oh yeah. Sorry."  
"You zoned out on me there for a minute. I got worried. What's on your mind?"  
"Nothing. It's fine." Nicole placed her hand on Waverly's leg, gently.  
"Waverly... Come on. It's me. We're friends now right?" Nicole said with a really cheeky grin on her face. Waverly couldn't help smiling.  
"I wasn't even listening to that to comment on it. I know you were probably expecting this really helpful response but all I was thinking was that this was giving me reassurance that it was just a thing that happened. Just a rebound thing. I trust you. At least I'm getting there." Nicole had a massive smile on her face. That was the only noticeable thing about her at the moment. She checked the time again. She noticed that she would have to leave now in order to be on time for work. She frowned slightly, but enough for Nicole to notice.  
"Waves? What's wrong?"  
"I have to go. I'm gonna be late if I don't go now."  
"Hey, it's fine. I need to get back to work anyway. I have tons of paperwork to do."  
"Are you sure, I can stay longer if you need me to?"  
"Honestly, it's fine. Go on, I can survive here with the coffee for now. I'll text you if I need to see you"  
"OK." The women hugged and Waverly ran back to work and got behind the bar just in time for Gus to get there. Waverly popped up from behind the bar with a towel and glass.  
"Oh Waverly, you're here early."  
"Yeah, I just felt like coming in a tiny bit earlier today."  
"OK..." For the rest of the shift, she couldn't stop thinking about Nicole. She knows she shouldn't. But she just couldn't help it. She just had this bad feeling about today and that case file Nicole hid.


	20. Chapter 20

Nicole sat at her desk, putting her gun and holster onto her belt, preparing to go out to the newest location where Bobo Del Rey had been spotted by the local PD. She hated to do this but she knew she had to. But Nicole knew she'd be back to pick Emily up from school. She had to be, that way she didn't have to explain to Waverly about this. I mean she didn't have to anyway, but she knew that Waverly would worry like hell if she had to pick Emily up.   
She couldn't think about that now though, she had to focus on the case. She came out the front of the station, looking at her phone and walked straight into Waverly.  
"Oh! My god! I'm so sorry.... Waves?! What?" She asked in shock as she looked up to see who she walked into.  
"Hey, Nicole. I'm just going on a walk while I'm on my break. Wanna join?"  
"I'd love to, but I can't. I'm not having a break today, I have a ton of work to do. Maybe some other time??"  
"Oh, yeah sure." Waverly walked away after giving her a small smile. Nicole felt so bad not telling her. But she got in the car and drove down to the location. When Nicole stepped out of the car, a deputy from the police department in that town walked over and escorted her over to the tent that was set up. She got to the tent and met the sheriff.  
"What's the situation at the moment?"  
"He's currently in a motel room across the street, he has no idea we are all here. Since this is your case and your suspect, we're going to let you take point on this. I've already instructed all my officers to follow your orders."  
"I'm grateful for that. We've been chasing him for a while."  
"So, Sheriff Haught? What's the plan?"  
"He doesn't know we're here right?"  
"That's right."  
"I say we wait it out. He's bound to come out of the room at some point, and we have the element of surprise. We are going to watch and monitor his movements and when he comes out, then we strike. Got it?"  
"Got it. I'll relay this to my men." The other sheriff walked away and rounded his men up and left Nicole watching a computer screen with a view of Bobo's room on. The deputy put a hidden camera when he knew what room Bobo was in.   
They must have been there for hours, still staring at the feed from the camera, when Nicole checked the time. It was almost time to pick Emily up from school. There was no way in hell that she was gonna get back to Purgatory in time to pick her up. Nicole stepped away from the tent and called Waverly.  
"Hey Nicole."  
"Hey, listen I need to ask you something. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."  
"What's up?"  
"Can you pick Emily up from school? I'd ask Wynonna but I know she still hates me."  
"She doesn't hate you, she just hated you hurting me and yeah sure, but how come you can't?"  
"I'm on a case right now, I'm about to make an arrest but it's taking a little longer than we first thought. I'm not gonna be back till late, I don't think."   
"Oh right, OK. Yeah, I'll pick her up and take her back to mine. Be careful."  
"I will and thank you." Nicole was about to hang up when she heard Waverly's soft voice.  
"Nicole?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I mean it. Please be careful. Come home tonight, for Emily. Come home for M...."  
"For who?"  
"Erm... For Mason. He'll be devastated if you didn't come home. Just promise you'll be safe."  
"I promise." They ended the phone call and Nicole walked back into the tent.  
"Who were you on the phone to?"  
"Just a friend. I asked her to pick my daughter up from school."  
"She sounded worried."  
"You heard that?"  
"Yeah, Hey we all have people that worry about us."  
"She just wants me to come home safe tonight. Last time I faced him, I ended up in hospital after being shot in the back. Literally."  
"Oh wow, I can understand her being worried. If it was me, my wife wouldn't have even let me come today."  
"I didn't tell her. If I did, she would've worried all day until I got back and she had to work. I didn't want her to focus on anything else today."  
"You should've told her. She'll worry more if you don't come home and she doesn't know where you are than if she did know."  
"I suppose you're right, but there's nothing I can do now. That conversation will take way too long and it looks like we have movement." Nicole said, bending down to get a better look at the screen. The screen was showing Bobo getting his coat on and getting prepared to exit the door.   
"OK, This is it. A team will stay here, B team will take their posts in the designated areas and C team, which will be lead by me, will get into the cars and be prepared to do a high speed chase. There are road blocks on all exits in and out of town. The entire town in on lockdown and will be until we have caught this bastard. Got it?"  
"Got it!"  
"Good. Sheriff, you and your team get into position. My team, follow me to your cars." B team were all in civilian clothes to throw him off. They got into their groups and areas. There were groups and couples and people loading bags into cars. Nicole got into her unmarked car and drove down the block and parked in a place where she wouldn't be seen until she had to drive again. Back on the scene, Bobo was making a move. The first team was keeping an eye on him and give updates to Nicole and the rest of the teams over the radio.   
"Subject on the move. Just got into car and started to set off. Nicole, roadblocks be prepared for action."  
"Copy. All set and ready on our end for interception. All goes well, we should be home for 8" Nicole finished her message and sat in her car, in silence as she waited for the car to pass. She wasn't sat there long when his car came racing past, with other team cars on his tail. Nicole put her car into action and raced after them, closing the gap between the team and overtaking some of them to get in front of the pack. They raced through the town, turning at every roadblock and dead end. Never stopping at lights or stop signs for anyone. The only thing that could be heard were sirens and the screech of tires as they turned corners at high speed. They finally came to the final roadblock. Bobo's car stopped sharply and the squad blocked him in. There was nowhere for him to go. Nicole got out of the car, her weapon at the ready, aimed at him with the rest of her team ready for backup.   
"Get down on the ground, away from the vehicle with your hands above your head!" She yelled. Bobo, surprisingly followed her instructions. When she was sure that he wasn't going to move, she went over to him with her gun still drawn. Only putting it away when she reached him and handcuffed him.  
"Bobo Del Rey, you are under arrest for 77 counts of first degree Murder with a deadly weapon, 3 counts of attempted murder in the second degree with a deadly weapon and 2 counts of evading arrest. You have the right to remain silent and to refuse to answer any questions that may be asked to you, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney before speaking to the police. You may also have your attorney present in the interview room during the questioning process. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand these rights as I have just read them to you?"  
"Yes."  
"Good. Stand up." Nicole pulled him to his feet and took him to her car. She locked the car and walked over to the deputy.   
"All good?"  
"Yup. He shouldn't be escaping any time soon. I better go now and get him booked in and get my daughter."  
"That's fine."  
"I'll send copies of all the paperwork over when it's finished for you, so you can file it in your case file."  
"Awesome." They shook hands and Nicole got back in the car.  
"Hope we can work on a case together again. If you ever find yourself needing a change, I have a deputy position open in my squad."  
"I'll think about it. Thank you Nicole." Nicole just nodded then drove off back to Purgatory to start on the paperwork. It's gonna be a late night for her, for sure....


	21. Chapter 21

Nicole trudged back into the station, with Bobo in tow. She had no idea what time it was, but it was dark out so it must have been quite late. The first thing she did was put Bobo in a cell and then came back out the front so she could do paperwork. She took the file out of her desk and sat on the, surprisingly comfy, chair that accompanied the desk and started writing. All the case files had to be handwritten, then scanned onto the computer system so it has multiple copies. As she was writing, Nicole felt her eyes get heavier and heavier with every stroke of her pen. She closed her eyes as she sunk down in the chair, but was then awoken almost instantly by the sound of the station door slamming shut. She jumped up in the chair just as Waverly rounded the corner.  
"Oh god! Waverly, you scared the crap out of me." Nicole chuckled and readjusted her position so she was sat upright instead of slouched.   
"Sorry, I kind of figured you would be here when you didn't come to pick Emily up before. Late night tonight?"  
"You have no idea. I still need to finish all this paperwork for the arrest I made. Oh you're a gem!" Nicole said as Waverly handed her coffee and food, while sitting on the corner of Nicole's desk. Nicole took a bite of the burger that was in front of her and groaned in pleasure. She opened up the burger, fully expecting there to be Pickles in it, but was pleasantly surprised to find that there wasn't any at all. Waverly saw the surprise on her face.  
"Did you want Pickles on it? I knew I should've put them on, but there was just something telling me..."  
"Waves. It's fine. I don't really like Pickles, so I probably would've took them out anyway. So thank you." Nicole picked up the pen again but Waverly put her hand over Nicole's and moved it back to the desk. She didn't let go of her hand though, but squeezed it tighter.  
"Why don't you leave it for tonight? You're tired, plus I'm sure Emily would like to see you before she goes to bed."  
"I can't. It needs to be done as soon as so I can send it over to the sheriff's department in the next town over. Also, why isn't she in bed?"  
"She wanted to wait up but she fell asleep on the couch. She woke up when I went to leave to come see you. She's sat on the couch with Wynonna right now, watching TV I assume."  
"Oh right. I'd love to put her to bed, but like I said this..." Waverly squeezed Nicole's hand again and cut her off.  
"Nicole... You can leave it for tonight. Whoever's in the cell won't get out tonight and the paperwork is safe here while you get some sleep. Come on, for me?" Nicole sighed but agreed. She took her car keys out and stood up.  
"OK. I'll just lock up and then I'll meet you at home?"  
"Home?" Waverly smiled.  
"Er... At your ho.. The homestead. You know what I meant. Now go on, I'll drive up and meet you there."   
"Oh no. You're way too tired. There is no way I'm letting you drive now. I'll wait while you lock up. Give me your car keys." Waverly put her hand out. Nicole gave her the keys and sighed. She walked off to lock all the doors. Waverly sat on Nicole's chair and waited. It didn't take her long and she was back out again before Waverly knew it.  
"You ready?" Waverly nodded.  
"Yup, let's go." The pair walked out to the front of the station where Waverly's truck was parked. They both hopped in and drove back to the homestead. When they got back into the house, Nicole saw that Emily was asleep on the couch and Wynonna had her in her arms, cuddling her. Wynonna turned her head when the door shut softly and smiled when she saw it was Nicole.   
"Oh Nicole, it's you. This one insisted on staying up until you got back but she fell asleep."  
"Thank you for looking after her. I'll take her home, if you don't mind giving us a ride, Waves?"  
"You aren't going anywhere, Nic. Emily can stay in Alice's room. She has a bunk bed and the bottom bunk is spare."  
"Yeah. Alice has loved having Emily here. The girls are best friends. When she found out Emily was staying, she cleared that bunk so fast."  
"You sure guys?"  
"Yup."  
"Absolutely."   
"Thank you guys, I'll go put her to bed then." Nicole picked Emily up and she stirred.  
"Momma?"  
"Hey princess." Nicole whispered as she went upstairs.  
"Are we home now?"  
"No baby, you're gonna stay in Alice's room tonight. It's too late to go home now. Do you have clean clothes?"  
"Yeah. Waverly took me home to get some."  
"Good girl. Now we gotta be extra quiet, cause Alice is sleeping."  
"OK." Emily fell back asleep. Nicole put her in the bed and tucked her in.   
"Goodnight princess." She gave Emily a kiss on the head and closed the door. She walked downstairs and found Waverly sat on the couch. With no Wynonna is sight.   
"Where's...?"  
"She went to bed. It's just us two."  
"Ah. You don't have to stay up with me you know."  
"I know. But if you're sleeping in my room, I'd prefer to not be woken up by the door creaking." Waverly chuckled.  
"Oh you don't have to share your room, I'd be quite happy with the couch."  
"Nicole. You're not sleeping on the couch. And you're not sleeping on the floor in my room either."  
"So where.... Oh."  
"I mean, if you don't mind. I just don't want you..."  
"Waves, it's fine."  
"OK, so do you want to go up now or sit up for a bit?"  
"I'm really tired, can we go to bed now?"  
"Yeah. I'll show you where my room is." Waverly took Nicole's hand and lead her upstairs. The pair went into Waverly's room and Nicole shut the door.  
"What side of the bed do you want?"  
"I usually sleep on the left. If that's OK?"  
"Nicole, you don't have to keep asking if it's OK. If it wasn't OK, I'd tell you." Nicole laughed.  
"Do you have anything I could sleep in? I didn't plan for this." Waverly went to her drawer and threw her a long T-shirt and some shorts.   
"I'm just going to change in the bathroom, Nicole. I'll be back out in a sec." Waverly walked out and Nicole started to get changed, putting her uniform on the chair and her boots underneath it. Nicole climbed into bed and sat up against the headboard, waiting for Waverly. Waverly came out a few seconds later and smiled at the sight.  
"What?"  
"Nothing. I just couldn't have imagined that you'd be staying in my bed."  
"I know. It's weird isn't it?"  
"For sure." Waverly laughed and climbed in next to Nicole. They both lay down and faced each other. The pair stared into each others' eyes and smiled softly before scooting closer to the other woman. The feelings between them were hard to deny from the outside, and even harder to ignore between them. They were trying though. Nicole draped her arm over Waverly's hip and Waverly tucked herself into Nicole's body, her head against Nicole's chest and her arm over her waist. The girls fell asleep in that exact position. To the outside world, it looked like the pair were a happy couple, but everyone in their lives knew the truth. These two girls were far from ready to be a happy couple. Well, one of them is anyway.


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning after Wynonna had taken the girls to school, she came rushing back to the homestead to try and see if Waverly knew Nicole had got to as she hadn't seen her this morning.  
"Waverly! Have you seen Nicole?! She isn't downstairs and she needs.... Oh." Wynonna walked into Waverly's room to find the two girls in the same position that they fell asleep in last night. Waverly stirred when she heard Wynonna's voice and looked over at her.  
"What? What's up?""  
"Nicole is gonna be late for work. I've already dropped the girls off at school, but you need to drive her work soon."  
"Mmmh. OK." Wynonna shook her head and left the room as Waverly closed her eyes. There was no way that those two would go into work today. Wynonna took it upon herself to call Gus and tell her that Waverly wouldn't be coming into work.   
"Hello?"  
"Aunt Gus. It's Wynonna."  
"Ah Wynonna. Where is Waverly? She normally comes in early to get coffee for her and Nicole."  
"About that... Waverly won't be coming to work today, I don't think. She didn't seem herself this morning when I went to wake her up."  
"Oh right. Well thank you for letting me know darling. I hope she feels better soon. I'll talk soon."  
"Yeah, talk soon." Wynonna put her phone down and sat on the couch. She chuckled at the sight that remained in her head from just moments ago. This will be an interesting conversation between the three of them today. But instead of making them get up, she just let them sleep longer. They were up really quite late last night. She put the TV on and soon after that Xavier came downstairs and sat next to her.   
"Who were you on the phone to?"  
"Gus. I was telling her Waverly isn't going to work today."  
"Is she OK?"  
"She's fine. Just tired. She fell back to sleep when I went to wake her up, so I thought it'd be best to leave them both in bed."  
"Both?"  
"Oh, Nicole stayed last night."  
"Really?" He was genuinely shocked. He didn't think that they were at that point yet.  
"Yeah, Waverly persuaded her to leave the work that she was doing for today and drove her back here. And Waverly being Waverly, wouldn't let Nicole sleep on the floor or the couch, so they are in bed together."  
"Oh. Right." He didn't know what to say. This happened so fast in his eyes.

"I didn't even know they were on those terms yet."  
"Yeah, me neither. But it turns out that my little sister is more forgiving than most. If it were me, I would've made her walk home. I seemed all happy with her last night, but that was just because Waverly is trying to be happy and I don't want Emily asking any questions."  
"That's true on facts and that's very noble of you to do that." Then Waverly came running downstairs, freaking out.  
"I'm gonna be late. Oh god!"  
"Waves! Calm down. I called Gus and got you the day off. You can go back to bed." Waverly hugged Wynonna and walked back upstairs slowly, all the energy that she came downstairs with, seemingly have disappeared. She walked back into her room and got back into bed slowly. Trying to not wake Nicole up, but she failed. As soon as Waverly got back in bed, Nicole woke up.  
"Waves? What time is it?"  
"Eight." Nicole shot up.  
"I'm so late for work!" Waverly put her arm around her waist and pulled her back down.   
"Relax. Take the day off, stay in bed. You had a late night last night." Nicole rolled over to her stomach and looked at Waverly, who had a goofy smile on her face.   
"I'd love to Waves, trust me. I'd love to spend the day in bed with you more than anything... But considering you made me leave the paperwork I was doing until today, I have to go and do that now." Waverly pouted and Nicole chuckled.  
"How about this? You drive me to work, then come home and back to bed. I'll do the paperwork and come back to join you when it's done. Deal??" She thought about it for the moment.  
"Fine." The pair smiled and Nicole went to get dressed. Waverly got out of bed and just threw some shoes on cause she was just gonna stay in the car anyway. When Nicole was ready, they went downstairs and Waverly got the car keys.  
"Where are you going?"  
"Dropping Nicole off at work. I'll be back later."  
"OK." The girls left and Nicole laughed when she got into the car.  
"What?"  
"I've just noticed you're still in your PJ's."  
"Well, I'm not getting out of the car and I'm going back to bed when I get back so..."  
"Fair enough."  
"You know I'm gonna get asked loads of questions by Wynonna when I get back, right?"  
"Why?"  
"She saw us this morning. She saw how we were sleeping."  
"Oh..."  
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. Nothing happened though, so we're all good."  
"Oh good." Waverly pulled up outside the station.  
"Are you sure you want to come back to the homestead after work?"  
"I promised, didn't I?"  
"OK, good."  
"I'll see you later." Nicole smiled and went to open the door but Waverly pulled her back gently.

"Waves, I gotta..." She got cut off by Waverly placing her hands on her cheeks. Waverly moved in and gently kissed Nicole. Nicole was shocked at first but then kissed back, deepening the kiss slightly. It was a short kiss though cause Waverly pulled back first.  
"I'll see you later." Waverly said and Nicole just smiled widely and then got out of the car. Waverly waited for Nicole to go inside the station before driving off. When she got back to the homestead, She was greeted by Wynonna beckoning her closer. She shut the door and went to sit on the chair facing Wynonna.  
"Yes?"  
"So... You and Nicole. What happened last night?"   
"Nothing. We went to sleep and that was it."  
"You looked cozy when I went in this morning."  
"That just happened. It felt right. It wasn't forced or awkward."  
"Are you happy?"  
"Me and Nicole aren't together..."  
"I didn't ask that. Are you happy?"  
"Yeah. I am."  
"Good."  
"I'm gonna go back upstairs now and call Jake. I haven't spoke to him in a couple days."  
"OK." Waverly ran upstairs and shut her bedroom door before calling Jake.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Jakey."  
"Waves! Hey! You OK?"  
"Yeah. I'm all good. How are you?"  
"I'm good."  
"Listen, I may have messed up big time."  
"What did you do?"  
"I kissed Nicole."  
"You what?!"  
"I know! It just happened! She stayed over last night cause she was working and it was too late for her to drive home and I dropped her back at work today and I kissed her before she got out of the car. But it felt so right and so natural."  
"Have you even talked about getting back together?"  
"No. Not once."  
"Did she kiss back?"  
"Yes. She even took it a bit further. But now I'm scared it'll set us back."  
"Babe. She kissed you back. This is good. Just talk to her. It'll all be OK."  
"I will. Oh by the way, when you were here last, you mentioned your brother and then got cut off. What were you going to say?"  
"Oh. Yeah, my older brother, Rory. He was part of the reason I moved from New York. He turned around to me one day, after everything I'd done for him, helping him with his addiction and getting him a good rehab programme that nearly sent me bankrupt, and told me that he didn't need my help. He never did and never will again. So I left and I haven't spoke to him since. I keep getting updated about him through friends who tell me he's back to his old ways', but never bothered to go back to New York. He told me not to help him, so I'm not."  
"Oh wow. That sucks, what a shitty brother he is."  
"Yeah, he is. Listen, I have to go to work, but I'll come see you soon, OK?"  
"OK. Love you Jakey."  
"Love you too, Waves." Waverly put the phone down and went back to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick secret about this chapter??? You guys wanna know??? OK.  
> ………  
> This chapter ending was originally was meant to go in a different direction but when I was transferring over just now, I thought that the progression was happening too quickly and I thought I'd subject you all to some more Wayhaught romantic friends angst.
> 
> So the end half of this chapter was rewritten in a couple of minutes. See if you can spot where I changed it from.

When Nicole went back to the homestead after finishing the paperwork, she was totally wiped out. But she knew that she needed to talk to Waverly about the kiss before and what it meant. She loved it, there was no denying that but she was so confused. Did this mean Waverly was ready to try again, or was it a slip? She closed the front door quietly and slipped off her shoes. As she walked through the house, she looked around every corner, into every room to check if Wynonna was still here, cause no doubt Waverly told her about the kiss and she'd for sure be questioned about this morning. Luckily Wynonna wasn't in so she walked up to Waverly's room and opened the door. Nicole couldn't help but smile at the sight. Waverly was fast asleep on her bed, hugging the pillow where Nicole was laying just a few hours before, with a smile on her face. She couldn't help but take a picture of her, then she walked over to the bed and woke Waverly up.  
"Waves. Wake up." Nicole whispered. Waverly groaned and just rolled over. Well, at least she could get into the bed now. Nicole got in and cuddled up to Waverly, who just took a deep breath in and then sighed in content. They lay like that for a while, then Waverly turned over again and stirred as she felt that Nicole was there.  
"Nicole?"  
"Hey Waves. You fell asleep on me princess."  
"Sorry. I was so tired."  
"It's OK. But I do have to talk to you." Waverly rested her head on Nicole's chest, and draped her arm across the tall girls stomach. Nicole played with Waverly's hair.  
"About what?" Waverly asked wide awake and also concerned.  
"The kiss. What did that mean for us?"  
"The kiss.... It just happened. I didn't plan it. Just like I didn't plan for this to happen, but it just feels so right. You know?"  
"Yeah, I do know." Waverly looked up at Nicole, who smiled at her.

"It still doesn't tell me what we are, Waves. Was the kiss a way of you telling me that you're ready to try again? Or was it a slip and that we should stay friends a bit longer? Cause I don't know about you, but I never stopped loving you. My love for Shae was different, it was a "We have kids together, you were my first" Kind of love. But you.... You snuck up on me Waverly Earp. I am totally and utterly in love with you."

"Nicole... I..." Waverly didn't know what to say to that. She loves Nicole, truly, but she wasn't sure if this was the right choice this early into fixing their relationship.  
"Waves.... Relax. You don't have to say anything. I just needed to get that off my chest and I thought it was the right time, just after the kiss and all, but apparently not. It's all good."  
"You know I love you. But the kiss... It was just a slip. It has to be. I'm just not ready to do this again."  
"Do what again?"  
"This. Us. I don't wanna get hurt again. Not when I've only just finished picking the pieces of my heart up off the floor from last time. You broke my trust Nicole..."  
"I know, and I couldn't be any more sorry." Nicole said softly.  
"I know. I just need more time. I promise that you will be the first person to know when I'm ready."  
"Pinky promise?" The pair linked pinkies and laid a small kiss on them. Nicole smiled and stood up.

"Where you going?"  
"I need to pick the kids up."  
"Noooo… Come back...You're warm." Waverly put her arms out for the taller woman to get back into bed. Nicole chuckled and sat back on the bed, with her body twisted in a way that she was facing Waverly.  
"I have to go."  
"Can't Shae go? She's still on the list right?"  
"Yeah, but she's also living an hour away."  
"So...?" Nicole laughed at Waverly's relentlessness.  
"So... I can't just ask her to drop everything and come get the kids because you're cold. Imagine how that phone call will go down. Oh yeah, hi Shae. Listen, I know you live an hour away and have to work but can you come pick the kids up? Why? Cause I'm laying in bed with Waverly and she's cold so she won't let me leave." Nicole shot her a playful look.  
"That sounds like the perfect way to ask." Waverly shot her a cheeky smile while burying her head further under the covers so only her eyes were showing. She wiggled her eyebrows in a way that made Nicole chuckle and shake her head. She stood up once more and pressed a kiss to Waverly's forehead.  
"I have to go. I'll call you in a bit."  
"Promise?"  
"I promise." Nicole smiled one last time and walked out of the house to her car.


	24. Chapter 24

After Nicole had left to go pick up the kids from school, she threw the blanket away from her face and sighed as her arms landed on either side of her body, pinning the blanket to the bed. She knew in her head that saying no to the idea of her and Nicole trying this whole thing again was a really good idea. But her heart ached at the fact that she couldn't do the one thing she wanted to do most. Tell Nicole that she trusts her enough to hand her heart over again. Waverly lay there in silence for a few moments, just staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom. She admired all of the stars that she and Wynonna stuck on there when they were younger and Waverly was afraid of the dark. Staring up at them brought back all the memories of the day that they did it. 

There was a knock on the door that broke Waverly out of her thoughts.  
"Come in." Wynonna stuck her head through the little crack in the door she made. Waverly smiled at her older sister and beckoned her in. Wynonna entered the room fully and closed the door behind her. The older girl got into bed next to Waverly as she rested her head on Wynonna's shoulder.  
"Hey babygirl. Is she gone now?"  
"If by she, you mean Nicole then yes."  
"I know her name, Waves. I just don't think she's worth me using it."  
"What? But you seemed fine with her last night when we came in."  
"That's because you were there. You seemed so happy to be fixing things with her and I don't want you to be conflicted. Plus I don't want Emily asking questions about it."  
"Oh."  
"I'm sorry baby, but there's no way I can forgive her for what she did to you."  
"You say that now, but you just gotta talk to her Wyn. Go out with her in a social setting and just talk to her. Get to know her. Hell, take her to the batting cages, or take her out drinking. You were thrown into a situation where you are forced to trust her without you knowing her or her background and the next thing, you're pissed at her. Of course your opinion is going to change."  
"I don't know babygirl. I really don't think it's gonna do much good. I'm always gonna be protective of you, you're my baby sister. And anyone who hurts you is in my bad books for life. No matter whether you fix it or not."  
"Please Wynonna. Just do it for me. You are two of my favourite people and I don't want this to come between you. Especially if you'll be seeing a lot more of her again." Waverly looked up at Wynonna with the puppy dog eyes, that she knew Wynonna couldn't say no to.  
"Fine! I will see if Haught wants to go for a few drinks sometime. But only for you." Wynonna pointed a finger in Waverly's face. Waverly smiled at Wynonna when she stood up and walked to the door.  
"Thank you! Love you!" She yelled at Wynonna just before the door closed again.

When Wynonna left, Waverly leant over to her bedside table and pulled out her diary from the top drawer. She flicked through the pages, wondering whether she should write in it again. She only wrote in it when she had no idea how to feel and this was one of those times. The last time the brunette wrote anything in the diary was just before the first time she had to look after Alice when she was a baby. Waverly just kept it hidden from Wynonna the rest of the time. She knew that if her sister ever found it and read through it, that it would cause a long and painful conversation to explain all her feelings and she just didn't wanna deal with it. Waverly leant over again and pulled out a pen from the same drawer that she got the book and sat up in bed. She crossed her legs and rested the diary on her leg, then started writing.

'Well, Hello again Diary. It's been a while. I haven't really needed to write anything in the past few years cause I thought I had everything under control...   
I did have everything under control. My life was great, you know? I had Wynonna, Gus and Shorty. Alice had just been born, so I was a new Aunty. Wynonna was happy with Xavier, Doc had moved on as well. All our focus was on work and Alice. But that was in the past. Lately, life hasn't been so good. I don't even know how to describe all the things that have happened. But I'm gonna have to try. Wynonna and Xavier got shot by some serial killer dude. Well, I guess it wasn't that hard or that many events but that was huge to me. And then there's Nicole.

Nicole. How to describe her? There aren't any words to describe her or how much she means to me. But she broke my heart. She smashed it into a million pieces. The worst thing is, She's not to blame for any of it. Well, not all of it anyway. It's partly my fault as well, but when I caught feelings for her... I was just so scared. You know? I had never felt like I had with anyone else, much less a woman. I hate myself for letting Nicole taking all the heat for this and letting everyone think it was all her fault we were in the place we were. I just don't think I could deal with Wynonna thinking any less of me. Nicole already hated me, I couldn't have dealt with it. But now, We're in a good place. We're fixing our relationship. Nicole wants to try dating again. I said no. Not yet.

I said that because I needed to gain my trust in her back. That's what she thinks anyway. I couldn't tell her the real reason. But I can tell you. That's what you're here for right? To hold my deepest feelings and secrets I could never tell anyone. I love Nicole with my entire being. My heart, my head and my soul is hers. I want to be in her arms and have her be mine more than anything, but I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this. I don't want her to look at me the way she did the day I hurt her again. I just know that I'm gonna hurt her again, it's all I'm good at apparently. I think Nicole was better off with Shae. Or someone other than me. At least they aren't going to hurt her as bad as I did. It's funny. Everyone said that true love is powerful and terrifying and I never believed them. But now, that I have that in my life, I know they're right. I can never love anyone as much as I love Nicole and that's why I don't know what to do.'

Waverly had run out of things to write so she just ended the entry and put everything back in the desk and lay back down, staring at the ceiling. Then she heard a slight knock at the door.


	25. Chapter 25

Waverly sat up slightly so she could see who was coming into the room. Wynonna opened the door slightly and poked her head in.  
"What's up? Do you need to go somewhere? Want me to look after Alice?"  
"No, it's all good. We're not going anywhere."  
"Oh. So what's up then?"  
"I heard shuffling and banging up here a couple minutes ago. Just checking you're OK and seeing what the noise was."  
"Oh right. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just shutting a drawer I noticed was open, that's all."  
"You promise?"  
"Yes, Wyn. I promise I'm fine."  
"OK, it's just you've been in bed all day so I thought you might have been sick or something."  
"Nope. Just cold and felt like being lazy today. I'm good, honestly. You don't have to worry about me." Waverly smiled.  
"OK." Wynonna left the room again and shut the door behind her. She dropped her smile and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. If Wynonna heard the drawer shutting, that means that she might come looking for the reason she shut the drawer. Wynonna isn't stupid, she could probably see straight through the lie. In fact, when Wynonna got back downstairs, she had a frown on her face.

"What's with the frown?"  
"Waverly just straight up lied to me."  
"How do you know?"  
"It's Waverly. She isn't that good of a lier."  
"Fair point."  
"I just went up to check if she was alright after the banging stopped and she told me that she was shutting a drawer that was open. Which probably was true."  
"OK... So, what was the lie?"  
"The drawer closed three times. I think she was writing in her diary again."  
"Where'd you come up with that? Waverly doesn't have a diary."  
"Yes she does. She used to write in it all the time after daddy died and Willa left. I just never knew where it was. But it makes sense. The drawer shut the first time then it shut again a few minutes later, which meant she got the book out and stared at it, trying to figure out if it was worth writing in. Then she got a pen out of the drawer. The third time would've been her putting it back." Xavier just stared at her.  
"Remind me never to try and lie to you." He chuckled. Wynonna hit his arm.  
"I'm being serious. She only ever wrote in the diary if she had too much on her mind to explain or talk to me about."  
"What could she possibly be worried about babe? The only thing that could cause that much worry is..."  
"Nicole." They said in unison.

"You don't think?" Xavier asked, looking up at the ceiling, indicating Waverly.  
"That they're back together? No way."  
"How do you know that though? They were awfully smitten earlier."  
"I asked her when she came back from dropping Nicole off at work. She wouldn't lie to me about that."  
"Are you sure she wouldn't?"  
"Yes. 100%. Why would she lie to me about Nicole now, after she's told me everything so far?"  
"Because now she knows that you are never gonna forgive Nicole."  
"No, Waverly would not lie to me."  
"Well, what else could she be stressed about?"  
"I don't know. Do I need to go talk to her again?" Xavier nodded and Wynonna sighed. She stood up and made her way back upstairs to Waverly's room for the third time today. Wynonna didn't even bother knocking this time. She just walked in and sat next to Waverly on the bed.  
"Yes. Wynonna. Come in, make yourself comfy(!)" Waverly said with the utmost sarcasm.  
"I need to talk to you."  
"About?"  
"Nicole." Waverly sighed.  
"Wynonna, I've told you already. Me and Nicole are not back together. Yes, we've spoken about it but I told her I wasn't ready to try yet. Happy?"  
"No. I'm not. And you aren't getting out of this that easily."  
"What else could I possibly tell you for you to believe me?"  
"How about why you were writing in your diary?"  
"How did... You're a cop."  
"Yup, and it's my job to solve things, baby girl. Look, I just don't wanna see you hurt by her again. I thought that you were stressing about something." Waverly took Wynonna's hands and looked her in eyes.  
"I am fine. OK? I was writing in my diary because I thought I should have. I just wanted to get some feelings out about everything that's gone on lately. I'm not stressed about anything." Just then Nicole called Waverly. Wynonna took that as her cue to leave and Waverly answered.

"You are a lifesaver." Nicole laughed softly.  
"Well, I am a cop. Kinda part of my job."  
"I... Shut up." That made Nicole laugh louder.  
"Why am I a lifesaver?"  
"Wynonna came to my room and started questioning me because I wrote something in a diary I hadn't wrote in for a while."  
"OK? Little confused now."  
"I only write in it when I'm stressed about something."  
"Oh. Are you stressed?"  
"I told Wynonna I wasn't."  
"That doesn't answer my question."  
"I.... Kinda."  
"Why?"  
"I don't really have an answer for that one."  
"Are you stressing over what I said earlier? Cause Like I said, I'm totally fine with just being friends. I just needed you to know where I stood."  
"No, it's not about what you said before. I just...." Waverly stopped and sighed.  
"Waves? Would it be easier for you to come over and we can talk?"  
"I couldn't interrupt you and the kids with whatever you're doing."  
"Come over. Seriously. We can talk while the kids are doing their homework upstairs."  
"OK."  
"I'll text you my address."  
"OK. See you soon." Waverly hung up the phone. She got up to grab some clothes from her closet. While she was changing, she got the text from Nicole with her address. She finished getting dressed, grabbed her phone and went downstairs. Waverly didn't tell Wynonna that she was leaving, she just picked up her keys and left.


	26. Chapter 26

Waverly quickly remembered the way to Nicole's house once she put it into her Satnav.The last time she was there was when they first talked after Shae let. Waverly was replaying that conversation in her head the whole time she was driving. When she pulled up at Nicole's house, she had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. Waverly had no idea why she was so scared, it wasn't a bad talk or anything. She just needed to make sure they both had everything out in the open. 

She got out of the car slowly and made her way up to the door. Waverly rose her hand to knock on the door but froze. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Nicole didn't know she was there, maybe she could turn around and go home. Text Nicole and tell her something came up all of a sudden. No. Waverly needed to do this, no matter what could happen at the end of this. She knocked a couple times on the door. Pretty soon, Nicole opened the door in a pair of sweats and a white sports bra. Waverly didn't know where to look.  
"Waves. That was quick. Didn't expect you to be here so soon."  
"Y-Yeah, I remembered how to get here from last time." Waverly was trying so hard to look at Nicole's face, but she ended up boring holes into the ground with how hard she was staring at the wooden porch.  
"Oh shoot. Yeah, I forgot you'd been here before. Although that talk wasn't something to forget." Nicole laughed. Waverly chuckled and rubbed her arm, still not daring to look at Nicole.  
"Yeah, it was a memorable day." Nicole noticed how uncomfortable Waverly looked and finally invited her in.  
"Come in. Please. It's a lot warmer inside." Waverly nodded and walked into the house through the gap that Nicole made by moving to the side. Nicole shut the door and the pair walked into the lounge and sat on the couch.  
"Where are the kids?" Waverly noticed how quiet the house was.  
"My mom's. You think I'd be able to walk around the house like this if they were here?" They laughed slightly.  
"Fair enough."  
"Anyway, what's up? You said you were stressed on the phone?"  
"Yeah. There's some things I never told you the first time we spoke about everything, the day that Shae left."  
"What did you miss out?" Nicole was concerned now. Waverly had never lied to her before, even though sometimes the truths that she said hurt.  
"I let everyone think it was your fault."  
"What was my fault?"  
"The whole reason my heart was broken."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I let everyone think that you went back to Shae the second she came to town because we had a small fight."  
"I'm sorry, you what? Why would you do that?! It makes it sound like I cheated on you!"  
"I know. And I am so sorry. I just needed to tell people something other than it felt weird for me to be in love with a woman. That's what I was writing in my diary. That's what I was trying to hide from Wynonna. Look, I know the whole reason we fought was because I wasn't sure if I wanted to be public with you. We fought because of me, the whole thing is my fault. I just needed you to know what I did. I'm gonna set it straight with people tomorrow." Nicole sighed.  
"Waverly..."  
"I'm sorry. Are you mad?"  
"A little, yeah. I just don't understand why... Actually I do understand why you put the blame on me. But it still doesn't make it OK. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  
"I couldn't. I didn't know how. But now I do know how and now I'm telling you. I'm accepting the whole thing started because of me. The first person I'm gonna tell is Wynonna."  
"When?"  
"When I get home. She needs to be the first to know. No matter how mad she gets."  
"OK. Well you better go tell her then."  
"OK. I'll call you later to let you know how it goes?"  
"Not tonight Waverly."  
"Why not?"  
"I just need to be mad at you tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning when you come into the station." Waverly nods and stood up. She walked to the front door, opened it and walked to her car, closing the front door behind her. Waverly drove home with only one thing on her mind. Tell Wynonna. 

Nicole sat forward on the couch and sighed. She rubbed her face with her hands and looked towards the window, where Waverly's car was just sat outside of. She stood up and walked to the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of coffee and situated herself at the island so she could start doing paperwork to take her mind off how she was feeling. 

The second Waverly parked her car, she walked into the house and stood in front of Wynonna and Xavier, who were still sat on the couch.  
"I need to talk to you."  
"Who?" Wynonna asked.  
"Both of you." Waverly sat down on the chair next to the couch.  
"OK."  
"So, you remember when Nicole got with Shae?"  
"Yeah, she got with Shae like the same day you two had that fight. What about it?"  
"That wasn't the whole story."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"We fought because I didn't wanna be public with her."  
"Yeah, I know."  
"You don't."  
"We fought in front of the school. It was huge. I really wanted to kiss her and something in my head told me not to because people were watching. She was hurt. And rightly so. I never blamed her for getting back with Shae. I was just hurt that she didn't tell me she was thinking about it. The whole thing was my fault. It started because of me, not her. We had 'Broken up' before she got with Shae. And it wasn't a tiny fight."  
"So, what are you saying?"  
"I'm saying I let you and everyone else think that that's what happened. I let you all think it was Nicole's fault and hate Nicole because I couldn't deal with the hate and judgement from everyone. Especially you two.... So now you know."   
"Waverly... I..." Waverly didn't let Wynonna finish the sentence. She said what she needed to, so she quickly walked up to her room and closed the door before she could hear the hate that could come out of Wynonna's mouth.


End file.
